It’s an absolute delight to feature Graeme Simsion on Linda’s Books Bag once again. Although I read the first two books in the Rosie series, The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect, before I began blogging and they haven’t featured here, I did recently review Graeme’s Two Steps Forward, which he wrote with his wife Anne Buist, here.

Published by Penguin imprint Michael Joseph, The Rosie Result is available for purchase through the links here.

Meet Don Tillman, the genetics professor with a scientific approach to everything. But he’s facing a set of human dilemmas tougher than the trickiest of equations.

Right now he is in professional hot water after a lecture goes viral for all the wrong reasons; his wife of 4,380 days, Rosie, is about to lose the research job she loves; and – the most serious problem of all – their eleven-year-old son, Hudson, is struggling at school. He’s a smart kid, but socially awkward and not fitting in.

Fortunately, Don’s had a lifetime’s experience of not fitting in. And he’s going to share the solutions with Hudson.

He’ll need the help of old friends and new, lock horns with the education system, and face some big questions about himself. As well as opening the world’s best cocktail bar.

My Review of The Rosie Result

Don and Rosie have a new project; their 11 year old son Hudson.

The Rosie Result is a fitting and satisfying conclusion to Graeme Simsion’s series. It’s been a long time since I read The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect, but Don’s narrative voice was immediately recognisable and familiar, so that I felt as if I were catching up with an old friend I hadn’t seen in a while. Graeme Simsion’s style works effortlessly in conveying Don’s character in fatherhood, the action and the themes so that this is a hugely satisfying read.

The plot firmly centres on Rosie and Don’s son Hudson, and his experiences in school, as he attempts to be ‘normal’, but this is also an effective means by which Don makes continued self discovery as he deals with day to day life. Hudson’s responses and attitudes are an echo of Don’s and peel back the layers of both personalities, but in a way this felt secondary to me. What I found so important, and frequently quite affecting, is the overall exploration of identity.

Graeme Simsion understands, and conveys so convincingly, the difficulties facing those who do not conform to accepted societal stereotypes. He shows how ignorance can offend just as much as prejudice and intolerance and I finished the read contemplating whether I have behaved thoughtlessly towards others even when I hadn’t meant to create discomfort for them. I love the way in which the themes in the book, from love and friendship to puberty and adulthood, for example, are woven throughout and occasionally resolved, without sentiment and a saccharine sensation. I think it is because Don still manages to behave unconventionally and inappropriately, even at the most poignant moments, that humour and balance in the writing are so perfectly poised, being entertaining and ultimately uplifting.

Although the title refers to Rosie, in The Rosie Result she is less of a presence and again I feel this works effectively within the context of the storytelling because what we have here really is an outcome of Rosie’s previous importance. Both Hudson and Don behave as they do ultimately as a result of having Rosie in their lives. I can’t remember if Hudson’s name is explained in the previous book but it felt right to me that his name is also a river, suggesting something fluid, ever changing and with the potential to travel beyond conventional confines. I loved that theme of the book.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Rosie series of books, because they entertain whilst conveying a highly important message – we can never fully know others and everyone has potential to be the individual they want to be, not the person others might force them to become. The Rosie Result left me feeling as if I had travelled with friends and enjoyed every moment of the journey.

About Graeme Simsion

Graeme Simsion is a former information technology and business consultant, who specialized in data modeling, information management and consulting practices.

He is now a full time writer of fiction. His first novel, The Rosie Project was published in Australia by Text and Michael Joseph (Penguin) in the UK.

You can find out more by following Graeme on Facebook and on Twitter @GraemeSimsion and by visiting his website.