The Rosie Project is a romantic novel about unreachable love, change and control written by Graeme
Simsion. The book was published in Australia in 2013.
A lot of different and interesting things happen in the book.
1) Don proposes his idea about the Wife Project to Claudia and they start to discuss it. Even add
some changes
2) Don and Gene talk about the applicants that Don got. This leads to Gene proposing Rosie in
the near future
3) Don meets Rosie, who is ‘the world’s most incompatible woman’ and they spend an evening
together. This leads to a conversation about Rosie’s biological father, who she does not
know. Don starts a project; the Father Project, to find out who Rosie’s biological dad is.
4) Don and Rosie go to the reunion party from Rosie’s mother’s graduation class. They go as
bartenders and serve everybody drinks. From the empty glasses they get the DNA from every
male who could possibly be Rosie’s biological father.
5) When Rosie gets knowledge of the Wife Project, she is insulted that Don would think that she
had applied. They get in a fight and make up the next morning. Then Don tells her, he found
the perfect candidate, which ruins his relationship with Rosie.
6) They meet again at the formal ball of Don’s work. They start to get along again, but then Don
ruins it again by thinking she was serious when she talked about sex. He is angry at himself
for causing her embarrassment, so he starts to focus on the wife project again and figures
out that there are only two possibilities left. They both live in New York.
7) Daphne Speldewind, a friend of Don, dies and she leaves him a small sum (10,000). He uses
this money to buy two tickets to New York. He asks Rosie to come with him and after a lot of
discussion, she agrees.
8) When they arrive in New York, they get ready and go to the first possible biological father,
Isaac Esler. They go undercover, but unfortunately Isaac knows who they are. They still get
his DNA. Then Isaac tells Don he made a promise to keep it a secret, which indicates that
Isaac is Rosie’s biological father. Don however does not tell Rosie about this conversation.
9) Rosie claims two of the four day to plan. Don and Rosie have the time of their lives and get
really close. They get so close that Rosie proposes sex, but Don screws it up by getting a book
Gene has given him. When Rosie sees the book, she backs out and leaves Don alone.
10) Even though Don had decided Rosie was not partner material, he plans dinner to tell her to
fall in love with him. When they go to dinner and Don tells Rosie this, she gently rejects him,
because he is incapable to love her. All this happens on his birthday.
11) After drinking the whole night, Don realizes he is in love with Rosie. He rushes to her to tell
her this. When he does, she agrees to marry him.
12) When Don and Rosie get back from their trip, they continue the Father Project and come to
the conclusion that Rosie’s stepfather is actually her real father.
, The title of the book is the Rosie project. Don, the protagonist, is working on a project to find the
perfect wife. The project, as you can predict, was called The Wife Project, but it unconsciously started
evolving around Rosie, even though the project was never meant for her. Don starts to compare the
applicants to Rosie or starts thinking what Rosie would do in their place. So eventually The Wife
Projects alters to The Rosie project which refers to the title of the book. I think The Rosie Project is a
good title. It does make the outcome of the book predictable, but it also suits the protagonist
perfectly. When Don is working on the Wife Project and he meets Rosie, it is predictable that Don will
continue the project with Rosie. Hence the title the Rosie Project. But I think that the author has
another meaning with the title. Don turns everything into a project; the father project, the Rosie
project, the Wife project and so on. This proves that the title and the protagonist are one, which
makes this a good title.
Donald Tillman, called Don, is an Australian genetics professor. Don spends his days organizing his life
with the hope that it will reduce inefficiency. Furthermore he tries to improve himself as a person.
Don does not fit in well with others. This has kept him from dating and that is also the reason why he
started the Wife Project. Don has a family with whom he does not have much contact. His dad owns
a hardware store and his brother wants to take it over, which Don does not mind at all. He had a
sister named Michelle. She died due to medical incompetence. She was pregnant. Don and his father
have an effective but not emotional relationship, which is satisfactory for both of them. Don’s
mother is very caring, but he finds her stifling. When Don was younger he was bullied for a brief time.
He enjoyed the science subjects and was the top student in almost all his classes. He left home after
high school to attend to university. He enrolled in computer science, but on his twenty-first birthday
he made the decision to change to genetics.
Even though he is not diagnosed, it appears that Don has certain symptoms of the Asperger
Syndrome (AS). This is a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social interaction and
nonverbal communication. Don often interprets a question differently and he finds it difficult to
understand what people mean.
‘’Good news. I have an applicant who satisfies all requirements,’
‘Well,’ said Rosie, ‘you won’t be needing me.’
This was a truly strange response. I hadn’t needed Rosie for anything other than her own project.
Rosie was clearly hurt by the fact that Don had find someone else. Her reactions shows that she
wanted him to stay and not to leave her for a new applicant. Don does not see it this way and does
not understand what Rosie means. This is an example of a part of the Asperger Syndrome.
In the beginning of the story, Don is a very awkward man who does not know how to love. He also
thinks completely logical. Don has a standardized Meal Planning where he makes the same meals
every weak on the same time and day. Don starts to improve his dating skills and gets better at being
flexible. There is a negative change. He starts to drink more, because Rosie is a bartender.
When Don meets Rosie, he learns that he can live life a completely different way. One time Rosie
changed the time on his clock, what caused him not to be on schedule. He learned that he can also
solve problems/ situations without thinking too much. In the end of the book he does not have the
Meal Planning anymore, he dresses differently, he has no problems with hugging Rosie and even
listens to music.