The Rosie Effect

by Graeme Simsion

Overview

With The Rosie Project, “Graeme Simsion achieved the impossible and created an entirely new kind of romantic hero,” Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You said. Now Don Tillman returns in the hilarious and charming sequel to the international sensation. Get ready to fall in love all over again.

Don sets about learning the protocols of becoming a father, but his unusual research style gets him into trouble with the law. Fortunately his best friend Gene is on hand to offer advice: he’s left Claudia and moved in with Don and Rosie.

Picking up where The Rosie Project left off, The Rosie Effect is a fun, hilarious, and poignant read. “Don Tillman helps us believe in possibility, makes us proud to be human beings, and the bonus is this: he keeps us laughing like hell” (Matthew Quick, author of The Silver Linings Playbook).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476767321
Publisher:	S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books
Publication date:	07/21/2015
Series:	Don Tillman Series , #2
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	210,126
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Graeme Simsion is the internationally bestselling author of The Rosie Project, The Rosie Effect, and The Rosie Result, featuring Professor Don Tillman, as well as The Best of Adam Sharp and, with Anne Buist, Two Steps Forward. Graeme lives in Australia.

Read an Excerpt

The Rosie Effect

Orange juice was not scheduled for Fridays. Although Rosie and I had abandoned the Standardized Meal System, resulting in an improvement in “spontaneity” at the expense of shopping time, food inventory, and wastage, we had agreed that each week should include three alcohol-free days. Without formal scheduling, this target proved difficult to achieve, as I had predicted. Rosie eventually saw the logic of my solution.

Fridays and Saturdays were obvious days on which to consume alcohol. Neither of us had classes on the weekend. We could sleep late and possibly have sex.

Sex was absolutely not allowed to be scheduled, at least not by explicit discussion, but I had become familiar with the sequence of events likely to precipitate it: a blueberry muffin from Blue Sky Bakery, a triple shot of espresso from Otha’s, removal of my shirt, and my impersonation of Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. I had learned not to do all four in the same sequence on every occasion, as my intention would then be obvious. To provide an element of unpredictability, I settled on tossing a coin twice to select a component of the routine to delete.

I had placed a bottle of Elk Cove pinot gris in the refrigerator to accompany the divers’ scallops purchased that morning at Chelsea Market, but when I returned after retrieving our laundry from the basement, there were two glasses of orange juice on the table. Orange juice was not compatible with the wine. Drinking it first would desensitize our taste buds to the slight residual sugar that was a feature of the pinot gris, thus creating an impression of sourness. Waiting until after we had finished the wine would also be unacceptable. Orange juice deteriorates rapidly—hence the emphasis placed by breakfast establishments on “freshly squeezed.”

Rosie was in the bedroom, so not immediately available for discussion. In our apartment, there were nine possible combinations of locations for two people, of which six involved us being in different rooms. In our ideal apartment, as jointly specified prior to our arrival in New York, there would have been thirty-six possible combinations, arising from the bedroom, two studies, two bathrooms, and a living-room-kitchen. This reference apartment would have been located in Manhattan, close to the 1 or A train for access to Columbia University medical school, with water views and a balcony or rooftop barbecue area.

As our income consisted of one academic’s salary, supplemented by two part-time cocktail-making jobs but reduced by Rosie’s tuition fees, some compromise was required, and our apartment offered none of the specified features. We had given excessive weight to the Williamsburg location because our friends Isaac and Judy Esler lived there and had recommended it. There was no logical reason why a (then) forty-year-old professor of genetics and a thirty-year-old postgraduate medical student would be suited to the same neighborhood as a fifty-four-year-old psychiatrist and a fifty-two-year-old potter who had acquired their dwelling before prices escalated. The rent was high and the apartment had a number of faults that the management was reluctant to rectify. Currently the air-conditioning was failing to compensate for the exterior temperature of thirty-four degrees Celsius, which was within the expected range for Brooklyn in late June.

The reduction in room numbers, combined with marriage, meant I had been thrown into closer sustained proximity with another human being than ever before. Rosie’s physical presence was a hugely positive outcome of the Wife Project, but after ten months and ten days of marriage I was still adapting to being a component of a couple. I sometimes spent longer in the bathroom than was strictly necessary.

I checked the date on my phone—definitely Friday, June 21. This was a better outcome than the scenario in which my brain had developed a fault that caused it to identify days incorrectly. But it confirmed a violation of the alcohol protocol.

My reflections were interrupted by Rosie emerging from the bedroom wearing only a towel. This was my favorite costume, assuming “no costume” did not qualify as a costume. Once again, I was struck by her extraordinary beauty and inexplicable decision to select me as her partner. And, as always, that thought was followed by an unwanted emotion: an intense moment of fear that she would one day realize her error.

“What’s cooking?” she asked.

“Nothing. Cooking has not commenced. I’m in the ingredient-assembly phase.”

She laughed, in the tone that indicated I had misinterpreted her question. Of course, the question would not have been required at all had the Standardized Meal System been in place. I provided the information that I guessed Rosie was seeking.

“Sustainable scallops with a mirepoix of carrots, celeriac, shallots, and bell peppers and a sesame oil dressing. The recommended accompanying beverage is pinot gris.”

“Do you need me to do anything?”

“We all need to get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow we go to Navarone.”

The content of the Gregory Peck line was irrelevant. The effect came entirely from the delivery and the impression it conveyed of leadership and confidence in the preparation of sautéed scallops.

“And what if I can’t sleep, Captain?” said Rosie. She smiled and disappeared into the bathroom. I did not raise the towel-location issue: I had long ago accepted that hers would be stored randomly in the bathroom or bedroom, effectively occupying two spaces.

Our preferences for order are at different ends of the scale. When we moved from Australia to New York, Rosie packed three maximum-size suitcases. The quantity of clothes alone was incredible. My own personal items fitted into two carry-on bags. I took advantage of the move to upgrade my living equipment and gave my stereo and desktop computer to my brother, Trevor, returned the bed, linen, and kitchen utensils to the family home in Shepparton, and sold my bike.

In contrast, Rosie added to her vast collection of possessions by purchasing decorative objects within weeks of our arrival. The result was evident in the chaotic condition of our apartment: potted plants, surplus chairs, and an impractical wine rack.

It was not merely the quantity of items: there was also a problem of organization. The refrigerator was crowded with half-empty containers of bread toppings, dips, and decaying dairy products. Rosie had even suggested sourcing a second refrigerator from my friend Dave. One fridge each! Never had the advantages of the Standardized Meal System, with its fully specified meal for each day of the week, standard shopping list, and optimized inventory, been so obvious.

There was exactly one exception to Rosie’s disorganized approach. That exception was a variable. By default it was her medical studies, but currently it was her PhD thesis on environmental risks for the early onset of bipolar disorder. She had been granted advanced status in the Columbia MD program on the proviso that her thesis would be completed during the summer vacation. The deadline was now only two months and five days away.

“How can you be so organized at one thing and so disorganized at everything else?” I’d asked Rosie, following her installation of the incorrect driver for her printer.

“It’s because I’m concentrating on my thesis, I don’t worry about other stuff. Nobody asks if Freud checked the use-by date on the milk.”

“They didn’t have use-by dates in the early twentieth century.”

It was incredible that two such dissimilar people had become a successful couple.

Reading Group Guide

This reading group guide for The Rosie Effect includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Graeme Simsion. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.


Introduction

In this highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Rosie Project, Don Tillman and his new wife, Rosie, find themselves with a new and unexpected “project”—a baby on the way.

When he and Rosie moved to New York City, Don was willing to make a few adjustments to his rigidly structured lifestyle. But nothing could have prepared him for the arrival of Bud (baby under development). Soon Rosie is overwhelmed by Don’s overzealous research and retreats into her thesis studies. Luckily, Gene moves in to provide his trademark advice, but not all goes according to plan.

As Don evades arrest, joins a research project on lesbian moms, battles an intrusive social worker, and attempts to invent a soundproof crib, he completely loses track of the most important project of all: Rosie. And when Rosie threatens to move back to Australia without him, Don must enlist all of his exceptional brain capacity to win her, and Bud, back for good.

Topics & Questions for Discussion

1. At the beginning of The Rosie Effect, we see that Don has made significant progress in allowing more flexibility in his life. What do you think is the most impressive change?

2. Don notes that Rosie is able to compartmentalize her organization skills. She is completely in control of her thesis research materials, but can’t keep her bath towel in the same place. What do you compartmentalize in your life? How are you different at work versus home?

3. Gene’s theories about relationships are heavily influenced by his job as the head of the psychology department in Australia. Do you agree that there is always an inequality of social capital in marriages? How does Don’s genetic research filter into his approach to love?

4. Discuss the scene in which Rosie tells Don that she is pregnant. How does Rosie want Don to react? How do you think his sister’s fatal ectopic pregnancy affects his feelings about her pregnancy?

5. Don has multiple mechanisms in place to maintain order. He meticulously plans meals and knows exactly how to deploy his Gregory Peck impression for optimal results. Do you have any similar systems or habits that you rely on to help your life stay organized?

6. While tending bar, Don is offended when a patron compares him to Dustin Hoffman’s character, Raymond, in Rain Man. Discuss the differences between Don and Raymond, and the pros and cons of using the word “autistic” as an umbrella term.

7. Discuss Don’s ability to sympathize versus his ability to empathize. He is able to excuse his former landlord’s unpleasantness by recognizing that his life is unrewarding. However, he finds it incredibly difficult to step into Phil’s shoes and imagine how he felt when Rosie’s mother died. Do you think this problem is exclusive to Don?

8. Gene tells Don not to fetishize parenthood; that children are just like little adults who don’t yet know the rules. Do you agree with this advice? Discuss the rules that children must learn and the rules that they shouldn’t.

9. As he and Rosie hurdle toward her due date, Don realizes that change is unstoppable. He thinks change is necessarily a bad thing. Do you think change can be good? Discuss examples of good changes.

10. Discuss the symbolism of the eternity ring that belonged to Rosie’s mother. What does it mean to Phil, and now to Don? Do you think it’s significant that it is stuck on Rosie’s finger as she considers ending her marriage?

11. Lydia ends up being a huge obstacle to Don as he tries to prepare for the baby. Discuss how her past experiences bias her against Don. Who else in the novel is unfairly biased? Is Don?

12. After failing to reunite Gene and Claudia, and providing lovely advice to a bullied Eugenie, Don must accept that Gene’s lies went so far that he couldn’t turn back. At what point did Don’s lies become too deep? What about Rosie’s? What would you have done differently?

13. Discuss the relationship between George and his son, who both abused drugs. How much can a parent blame themselves for their child’s shortcomings? At what point must that child be held responsible for their own actions?

14. Has Rosie changed in this book? Some readers have suggested that Rosie is unreasonably intolerant of Don: “She knew what she was getting herself into.” Do you agree?

15. Rosie tells Don that the things that she loves about him as a husband are precisely the things that will make him an incompetent father. Why do you think she changes her mind?

16. Discuss Don’s comment in the New York Post: “Of course lesbian parents are not average. Hence we should not expect average outcomes. But it would seem un-American to seek averageness.” What is the distinction between averageness and tradition? How are Don and Rosie exceptional? Do you think Hudson will be exceptional?

Enhance Your Book Club

1. In honor of Don and Rosie’s little inside joke, host a Gregory Peck movie night and rent To Kill a Mockingbird and Roman Holiday. Try out your best Gregory Peck impressions on one another.

2. Not everyone can be as adept in the kitchen as Don, but there’s no harm in trying. The first meal he cooks Rosie is “scallops with a mirepoix of carrots, celeriac, shallots, and bell peppers and a sesame oil dressing.” Here’s a recipe that comes close: http://frenchfood.about.com/od/maindishes/r/Seared-Scallops-In-Sage-Cream-Recipe.htm And don’t forget to pair with a nice pinot gris.

3. The Dead Kings isn’t a real band, but Café Wha? is a real place in Manhattan. Read up on its incredible music history and then plan a night to visit your local music club to support bands, new and old!


A Conversation with Graeme Simsion

How was writing the sequel different than writing The Rosie Project? Do you feel as though you’ve changed as an author?

Two things made writing The Rosie Effect much easier (which is not to say easy!). First, I already had my central characters in place. Don’s voice and Rosie’s character were the two biggest challenges in writing The Rosie Project. Second, I was experienced. The Rosie Project was my first novel, and it’s always tough doing something for the first time, whether it’s making a complicated dish or overhauling an engine. The second time, you know what you’re doing.

I’ve improved as an author and I’m more confident in what I’m doing, but I haven’t changed in any qualitative way. Yet.

Did you feel any pressure returning to these characters, knowing that they had amassed such a loyal readership? What were you most worried about?

Not for long. I wrote a couple of chapters to ensure I still had Don’s voice and was confident that my readers would stay with him as long as he remained true to himself. I was a little worried that readers who were looking for another romance/romantic comedy would not be so comfortable with a “honeymoon is over” domestic relationship. And I wanted to take those readers with me on the journey.

You appear to be very familiar with New York City. What are your favorite things to do when you’re in town? Any favorite museums or restaurants?

I’ve visited New York many times, going back to the 1980s, and lived there for six months in 2010. Like Don, I enjoy the Museum of Natural History. And we routinely visit the Met and MoMA. My wife and I are both keen diners, so we hit the restaurants and bars—and not just the upscale ones. We usually have a pizza at Arturo’s, try to get a table at Momofuku Ko, got to a few Mexican restaurants (Suenos in Chelsea is a good choice at happy hour), maybe a steak at Strip House, plus a few tapas bars—especially around West Nineteenth Street in the Flatiron district, where Don’s fictional bar is located (it’s a cross between Boqueria and Flatiron Lounge, with the addition of the incompetent manager). And we try to catch some stand-up: the Comedy Cellar is full of tourists, but still good.

Don is not quite an unreliable narrator, but he misses social cues that the reader does not. Talk a little more about this narrative device. Do you ever find it limiting?

On the contrary, it’s a very effective device for conveying Don’s character at the same time as telling the story. And it’s one of the key sources of comedy: the disconnect between what Don describes and what we think is really happening. I don’t feel a desire to take over as narrator and insert my own direct observations into the text. I know that for some readers, the fact that the story is told exclusively from Don’s point of view is disconcerting. I think the majority of relationship stories are told from a female point of view—this is certainly true of the chick lit genre. Someone accustomed to having the woman on the page at all times is going to miss Rosie!

Don, Dave, George, and Gene form quite the boys club. Do you have a similarly close group of guy friends?

I have a two or three such groups, but many of our social activities involve our (female) partners as well. There’s a bunch of guys from my previous profession (business/IT consulting) who get together regularly for a long lunch; and even though I don’t know these guys so well, a lot of important things get shared. Men (of my age and nationality at least) are often prepared to disclose more in an all-male setting.

It’s a Wonderful Life figures prominently in the end of the novel. Can you identify with George Bailey? What would your world be like without you in it?

Not really! I’m not nearly as saintly, and I’m sure there are a few people who think the world would be a better place without me. But in addition to my family role, I’m proud of having run a business that gave a start or otherwise played an important part in the careers and lives of many people who worked in it.

Do you think Gene has grown or reformed at all since the first book? Do you see a future for him and his children? What about him and Lydia?

We see Gene in a bit more depth in the second book. I think it’s more a case of understanding him better than any significant change. Many/most people have such a strong reaction to infidelity that it’s hard to see past it. I think he’s always wanted to help Don; he’s always wanted to be liked; and he’s wanted to play around. These aims have not always been compatible. I think he’ll stay in touch with his children, but geography and new relationships will get in the way of him being a close parent. If he’s able to make an impression as a professor in New York, I think he’ll stay. As for Lydia, it’s perhaps a bit soon—but I got together with my partner only a little while after a breakup and we’ve been together twenty-five years. It’s dangerous to make predictions about love.

Dave has a lot of trouble standing his ground. Have you ever been in a tough situation that you felt was difficult to confront?

Many, many times. I think my background as a consultant (and perhaps my life before that) inclines me to look for win-win solutions or compromises rather than putting too high a value on holding my position per se. You only have to spend an hour browsing Twitter to see the downside of standing your ground. I still try to confront the issue but not in a confrontational way!

In which direction do you think Rosie will take her career? Talk about a time when you and your wife had to support each other in pursuit of a career goal.

I think Rosie will end up as a researcher rather than a clinician. She’s not that much of a people person, and perhaps not a great listener! My wife and I have had lots of opportunities to support each other—in particular in our writing careers, which are second careers for both of us. When my wife won a big research grant to study postnatal depression, I’d just sold my business, and took over as primary carer for our kids. My wife was fantastic about me going back to college to study writing, and she is my sounding board for everything I write. And I do the same for her.

Will there be another book about Rosie and Don? Can you give us any hints?

Give me a few years. Let’s take another look at the family when Hudson is about seven, and see if he’s following in anyone’s footsteps. And what his parents think about that. And, remember, as the late Syd Field would say, without conflict you have no drama, and without drama you have no story. . . .

Editorial Reviews

“In his bestselling debut, The Rosie Project, Simsion introduced the delightfully original character of Don Tillman, an Australian geneticist with Asperger’s syndrome who sets out to find the perfect wife by using the scientific method. In the sequel, set in New York, Don takes on impending fatherhood in the same clumsy yet endearing way, with results both funny and moving. This charming new chapter in the Tillman chronicles leaves you hoping it won’t be the last.”
—People

“Though painfully aware of his emotional shortcomings, Don determinedly sets out to be a good dad. Hilarity ensues…Simsion’s tale offers a playful look at a how a family of two fare when a third…enters the mix...There’s a moral to this quirky story: The best things in life can’t be planned on a spreadsheet.”
—Good Housekeeping

“Loveable science prof Don Tillman’s perfect (-ly concocted) marriage is about to hit a major bump.”
—Cosmopolitan

“The hilarious follow-up to The Rosie Project, one of the best novels I’ve read in ages. There’s no sophomore slump here. Simsion brings back some of the best characters and gags from the first novel while also bringing in enough new elements to keep it fresh. It’s a funny novel that also made me think about relationships: what makes them work and how we have to keep investing time and energy to make them better. A sweet, entertaining, and thought-provoking book.”
—Bill Gates, "Top Five Books of 2014"

"Don and Rosie are back!...Readers who loved the first book are in for another treat."
—Library Journal (starred review)

"The Rosie Effect is a celebration of the best attributes to be found in a friend, a husband, or a father, regardless of the way they are expressed." —Booklist (starred review)

“This is a very funny book, possibly the funniest this year as Don organizes his and Rosie's life in New York…Every thought creates a smile for the reader who can't help responding to Don's comedic behavior…We can only hope the third installment is lurking around to produce another chuckle-filled triumph.”
—Daphne Guinness, Sydney Morning Herald

Praise for The Rosie Project

“Sometimes you just need a smart love story that will make anyone, man or woman, laugh out loud.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Move over, Sheldon Cooper. There’s a new brilliant, socially inept scientist poised to win over a huge audience, and his name is Don Tillman, in The Rosie Project. . . .This rom-com is bursting with warmth, emotional depth, and intentional humor.” (A–)
—Entertainment Weekly

“An utterly winning screwball comedy. . . . If you’re looking for sparkling entertainment along the lines of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and When Harry Met Sally, The Rosie Project is this season’s fix. . . . This charming, warmhearted escapade, which celebrates the havoc—and pleasure—emotions can unleash, offers amusement aplenty. Sharp dialogue, terrific pacing, physical hijinks, slapstick, a couple to root for, and more twists than a pack of Twizzlers—it’s no surprise that The Rosie Project is bound for the big screen. But read it first.”
—NPR.org

“Filled with humor and plenty of heart, The Rosie Project is a delightful reminder that all of us, no matter how we’re wired, just want to fit in.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Simsion’s attention to detail brings to life Don’s wonderful, weird world. Instead of using Don’s Asperger’s syndrome as a fault, or a lead-in to a tragic turn of events, Simsion creates a heartwarming story of an extraordinary man learning to live in an ordinary world, and to love. As Don would say, this book is ‘great fun.’”
—USA Today

“It’s natural to be wary of a novel that’s been the target of such gushy praise. Publishers in at least thirty-eight countries have snapped up the rights to The Rosie Project, which has been touted as a ‘publishing phenomenon,’ an ‘international sensation’ and no less than ‘the feel-good hit of 2013.’ Well, squelch your inner cynic: the hype is justified. Australian Graeme Simsion has written a genuinely funny novel. . . . This is classic rom-com.”
—The Washington Post

From the Publisher

The sequel to THE ROSIE PROJECT is almost as accomplished as its predecessor, and narrator Dan O'Grady is every bit as engaging as he was the first time around. Don Tillman, a geneticist with Asperger's syndrome, and his new wife, Rosie, move to New York City from Australia. O'Grady deftly depicts Tillman in all of his well-intentioned awkwardness as he advises the pregnant Rosie on the do's and don'ts of her condition. Poor Rosie is nearly at her breaking point, a state of mind that O'Grady captures with humor and realism. Listeners will laugh out loud when Tillman comes to the attention of the NYPD as he tries to observe youngsters in a park to better prepare for fatherhood. Seldom has a "new dad" book been more delightful. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2015 - AudioFile