At the end of Graeme Simsion's debut novel, The Rosie Project, the brilliant, socially inept genetics researcher Don Tillman had found true love in spite of his algorithm-driven, carefully calibrated Wife Project. When The Rosie Effect opens, Don and his free-spirited wife, Rosie, are living happily in New York City, where Rosie is a medical student and Don is a visiting scholar at Columbia University. Marriage has added significant complexity to Don's life, forcing him to abandon such long-held rituals as the Standardized Meal System; he has adapted to his new state, even participating in unscheduled romantic evenings with Rosie and a regular "boys' night out." Then Rosie tells him she's pregnant, and Don realizes that this will generate a long and complicated list of challenges.
Tackling the obstacle in his trademark logical style, Don attempts to conduct research on pregnancy, prepare himself for fatherhood and seek advice from all six of his friends, both in New York and back home in Australia. Before long, however, Don's actions lead to apprehension by the police, an unplanned apartment move, the risk of deportation and a professional scandal. Don tries to keep his troubles a secret from Rosie, but his lack of joy at her announcement and his clumsy attempts to prepare for parenthood cause a rift in their relationship. Determined to solve his problems (which are multiplying as quickly as his baby's cells), Don employs a few innovative (not to say desperate) ploys to win back Rosie's affections, show he's ready to become a father and save his reputation.
Simsion again employs the wacky, wonderful voice that made The Rosie Project a hit. Narrating his troubles in precise detail, Don lays out his reasons for everything, including stealthy observation of children at a local playground (to the distress of their mothers) and a custom-made soundproof crib he commissions with the help of his father. Several characters from The Rosie Project reappear, such as Don's womanizing colleague Gene (who, in the midst of his own crumbling marriage, offers Don ample well-meaning, if misguided, advice) and Don's friend Dave, who is dealing--not altogether successfully--with his own impending fatherhood.
The true pleasure of The Rosie Effect lies in the gap between Don's perceptions and his increasingly complex reality. By reading between the lines of Don's meticulous narration, readers will divine both the causes and eventual remedies for his troubles, while being privy to a host of sly jokes that go right over the hero's head. Although Don's errors (social and otherwise) cause some heartbreaking scenes, Don's impeccable logic--and Simsion's occasional deviations from it--ensure everything turns out right in the end. Heartwarming, poignant and often hilarious, The Rosie Effect is a worthy second chapter in Don and Rosie's story. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams
Shelf Talker: The ultra-logical genetics researcher Don Tillman returns, attempting to prepare himself for fatherhood--with often comical results.