When Don Tillman, professor of genetics, decides that it’s time for him to find a wife, there’s only one way for him to proceed; logically.
Don compiles a questionnaire and endeavours to find a woman who might last more than one date. For Don Tillman is not your average guy – he’s firmly on the autistic spectrum though, seemingly unaware of the fact himself. Don lives in our world but doesn’t quite see it as most of us do. Through the pages of this book through comic and poignant episodes alike we, the reader, get to see what Don’s world is like, along the way perhaps learning a little about life and love ourselves. When Don meets Rosie she doesn’t tick the boxes of his questionnaire at all but she does provide him with ‘The Rosie Project’ and what follows is a gentle, enjoyable and humorous story.
I was quickly won over by Don, and his way of perceiving things and found him very endearing – guided by his philandering friend Gene with his long suffering wife Claudia, and trying to make sense of it the world by imposing weekly menus and his logic to every detail of life. The idea of a hero who suffers from Asperser’s syndrome is perhaps not a new one, (and there are certainly more gritty portrayals elsewhere) however it’s sensitively and intelligently handled here. Anyone who enjoys a romantic tale which is a little bit more intelligence than average will be sure to enjoy this book.
A good natured, quirky Love story
Penguin, £7.99