The Rosie Project

Abstract

The novel presents Don Tillman, a scientist and genetics professor who aims to improve himself personally and professionally, namely by finding a partner, since he believes his IQ, physical form, and income should guarantee him one. To do so, Don comes up with the “Wife Project”, a testimony to his extremely analytical, rational and scientific way of thinking. He believes that a questionnaire should help him find a wife, until he meets Rosie, a bartender who is introduced to him through his best friend and colleague Gene. The two get along, and Rosie eventually asks Don to help her find her biological father, especially because her relationship with her stepfather Phil is rather turbulent. Don accepts, and invents the “Father Project”, obsessively trying to find out who Rosie’s mother interacted with during a party when Rosie was supposedly conceived. He manages to find the attendees list, and successfully performs a number of DNA tests, using the university laboratory to do so. It is eventually discovered that Gene may actually be Rosie’s father. Rosie and Don go to live a life together after marrying. However, without taking his mind out of the “Father Project”, Don still manages to test Rosie’s stepfather, confirming that, after all, he was her actual biological father.