REVIEW: The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion

In The Rosie Result (Don Tillman #3) by Graeme Simsion , After years of struggling to fit into a social world that made no sense to him, scientist Don Tillman has a beautiful wife and a whip-smart ten-year-old son to call his own. Rosie Jarman was the key to helping him navigate the pitfalls of interpersonal communication and (somewhat) understanding emotions. But having their son, Hudson, has given them new challenges to face. One of which is Don watching his beloved son struggle in school much as he did as a child.

‘It struck me that Hudson’s life and mine were following similar trajectories.’

Don and Rosie decide that he should be the one to begin working on what is dubbed The Hudson Project. Meaning, Don will mainly remain at home, taking care of Hudson’s daily needs while Rosie focuses on an important project at work. Don is sure he can impart some wisdom from his own failures in social interaction at school to help his son, along with assistance from other family and friends. But what he learns about himself as well as his relationship with Rosie and Hudson is an unexpected bonus for Don and something which will improve his life even more.

“I love him as he is.”
“Agreed. Me also. But the world doesn’t. The school world. A lot of the rest of the world.”
“That was your life, wasn’t it?”
“When I was young. It wasn’t just the world that didn’t like me. *I* didn’t like me. I *wanted* to change.”

The Rosie Result is the heartwarming and humorous finale to the clever Don Tillman trilogy. I think readers will fall in love with our quirky but lovable hero Don all over again, as well as with his adorable, if not challenging, relationship with his wife and son.

“Sometimes we just need to…”
“Muddle through,” I said.
Rosie laughed. “I’m not disagreeing; it’s just not a term I ever thought you’d use.”
“On the contrary, muddling through is a recognized problem-solving technique. Lindbloom, 1959.”
“Well, that’s what we’ve done. And we’ve done it as a family.”

Don, Rosie and their son Hudson had some mighty adventures in this final installment in Graeme Simsion’s popular trilogy. And as this has been a continuing story arc, I would highly recommend that readers start from the beginning. It’s so entertaining that I think you’ll want to anyway! I loved that Don and his family ended up back in Australia where it all began and that we got to catch up with a lot of the previous characters we’ve met. They all had their own specific roles to play in Rosie, Don and Hudson’s lives this time. And the involvement was carefully analyzed of course by our hero throughout the story as I would certainly expect from our scientist.

Even though the writing has to be somewhat clinical and meticulously detailed thanks to Don’s penchant for experiments/projects, I’m thankful that Simsion still included the emotions Don felt and his constant work at understanding them. Hudson had some of the same difficulties so it took both of his parents to help him along at times. But the bond between father and son was what I truly loved here. It was comical at times, so touching and poignant at other moments. And it was filled with such honest love between them. *sigh* Rosie was as insightful as ever and she proved she was the perfect match for Don yet again, with their lovely connection still shining bright between them. She had her own issues professionally to deal with which caused some tension, but I thought everything turned out in a manner which fit all the characters to a T.

A story full of surprising emotional depth that will ring true with readers, Graeme Simsion’s perceptive writing once again captivated me in The Rosie Result. I hate to see this trilogy end, but what a wonderful final wild ride we had with Don and family here.

Book Info:

Publication: Published May 28th 2019 | Text Publishing | Don Tillman #3

I was standing on one leg shucking oysters when the problems began…

Don Tillman and Rosie Jarman are about to face their most important challenge.

Their ten-year-old son, Hudson, is struggling at school: he’s socially awkward and not fitting in. Don’s spent a lifetime trying to fit in—so who better to teach Hudson the skills he needs?

The Hudson Project will require the help of friends old and new, force Don to decide how much to guide Hudson and how much to let him be himself, and raise some significant questions about Don’s own identity.

Meanwhile, there are multiple distractions to deal with: the Genetics Lecture Outrage, Rosie’s troubles at work, estrangement from his best friend Gene…

And opening the world’s best cocktail bar.

Hilarious and thought-provoking, with a brilliant cast of characters, The Rosie Result is the triumphant final installment of the much-loved and internationally bestselling Don Tillman trilogy.