Sometimes, the best things in life are truly unexpected. Socially awkward Professor Don Tillman, unexpected romantic hero of Graeme Simsion's novel The Rosie Project, however, would beg to differ. Don, a professor of genetics, has decided it is high time he acquired a wife, and as a scientist, he goes about it in the most rational, logical way possible: he develops a highly detailed questionnaire and hands it out at every opportunity. Surely, this will be the best possible way to find the perfect wife.
The Wife Project, however, isn't going so well. Don has to adjust and refine his survey as he analyzes the data. Smokers are out, as are vegetarians, drinkers, the non-punctual... Don's list of non-negotiable unsuitable traits goes on and on. And then he meets Rosie, who is everything he has determined to be unacceptable in a potential wife. She is also a match for him intellectually, as well as witty and oddly beguiling. While she's quickly disqualified as inappropriate for The Wife Project, Don agrees to help Rosie with a project of her own--one to find her biological father. Their time spent together, of course, is full of surprises, convincing them both to reconsider what is important in life, and in love.
The Rosie Project is the sort of quirky, unconventional romance that restores my faith in humanity--in the goodness of people, in love in the face of adversity. I would put this on par with Jojo Moyes's Me Before You (which is still madly popular, by the way) on the list of contemporary romances that really tug at the heart strings and make a reader re-examine preconceived notions about ourselves and others. I really, really loved this book, and I just couldn't keep it to myself.
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