The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion – review

As first sentences go, "I may have found a solution to the Wife Problem" has possibilities as an instant classic. But is this a dark murder story or a self-help relationship tome? Well, neither: it's an endearing romantic comedy, and the narrator, professor of genetics Don Tillman (39, tall, intelligent and employed: "Logically I should be attractive to a wide range of women"), is an undiagnosed Asperger's type who Simsion uses to explore how a grown autistic man might approach a romantic relationship. Friendships are rare enough: Don has a total of two – his colleague at a Melbourne university, Gene, and Gene's psychologist wife, Claudia (the pair have an open relationship, which allows Gene to pursue his ambition of sleeping with a woman from every country in the world).
Gene and Claudia try to help Don find love but "unfortunately their approach was based on the traditional dating paradigm, which I had previously abandoned on the basis that the probability of success did not justify the effort and negative experiences". And thus is The Wife Project born.

To choose a suitable wife, Don designs a detailed questionnaire that filters out unpromising candidates: women who are unpunctual, overweight, vegetarian; who drink or smoke or have STDs. And then he meets Rosie, who fails on almost every score (except BMI and, one hopes, the STD criterion). Although, on past form, it looks like there is no chance of love blossoming (viz. Don rejecting the advances of a sexy French nymphomaniac on the grounds of her drinking and smoking), when Rosie enlists Don's genetic expertise to help find her natural father, otherwise known as The Father Project, the two are thrown into an entertaining series of comic set pieces and occasionally life-threatening situations.

Warm-hearted and perfectly pitched, with profound themes that are worn lightly, this very enjoyable read promises to put Don Tillman on the comic literary map somewhere between Mr Pooter and Adrian Mole. Through his battles to understand and empathise with other humans, Don teaches us to see the funny side of our own often incomprehensible behaviour – and to embrace the differently abled.