The Rosie Result Read online

  The team at Text Publishing have now shepherded me through five novels and I thank publisher Michael Heyward for his continued faith. My editor, David Winter, is a consummate professional—and I’ve come to anticipate his feedback with enthusiasm rather than trepidation. Kirsty Wilson, Shalini Kunahlan and Jane Watkins have kept my books visible in the Australian marketplace, and Anne Beilby, Emily Booth and Khadija Caffoor have ensured that they will be read around the world—forty languages and counting. W. H. Chong again designed the Australian cover.

  Thanks also to my international publishers, particularly Cordelia Borchardt (Fischer, Germany), Maxine Hitchcock and Jillian Taylor (Penguin Random House UK), and Jennifer Lambert (HarperCollins Canada), for their insightful feedback.

  And thanks, for diverse reasons, to Krysia Birman, Kerrie Hancox, and Lee Kofman.

  Finally, this series of novels was inspired and informed far more by life experiences—my own and others’—than research. Thanks to everyone—all of you—who contributed to those.

  Praise for the Rosie novels

  ‘Don Tillman helps us believe in possibility, makes us proud

  to be human beings, and…keeps us laughing like hell.’

  Matthew Quick, New York Times bestselling

  author of The Silver Linings Playbook

  ‘Extraordinarily clever, funny, and moving.’

  Bill Gates

  ‘Don Tillman…is a gem, an empirical laser trained

  on human shortcomings, especially male ones, and even

  more especially his own. He is also utterly charming

  in his lack of guile and his belief in improvability.

  Through him, Simsion…deals with issues of nature,

  nurture, gender, free will and the vagaries of the

  human heart with a deceptively light touch.’

  Evening Standard

  ‘A heartwarming story of an extraordinary man

  learning to live in an ordinary world.’

  USA Today

  ‘[Don] Tillman has almost transcended the

  boundaries of fiction to become a geek icon.’

  Guardian

  ‘If you were swept away by Graeme Simsion’s

  international smash hit The Rosie Project,

  you will love The Rosie Effect.’

  Globe and Mail

  ‘There is much to love in this comedy of errors.’

  Daily Express

  ‘Another rollicking ride. I can only hope

  the madcap journey isn’t over yet.’

  Otago Daily Times

  ‘Don himself, pedantically single-focused as ever, is increasingly

  charismatic and the left-field resolution of his problems is as

  satisfyingly credible as it is delightfully unexpected.’

  Adelaide Advertiser

  ‘The Rosie Effect is a celebration of the best attributes

  to be found in a friend, a husband, or a father,

  regardless of the way they are expressed.’

  Booklist (starred review)

  ‘A sparkling, laugh-out-loud novel.’

  Kirkus Reviews

  ‘Charming, funny and heartwarming, a gem of a book.’

  Marian Keyes

  ‘Extremely loud and incredibly long applause.’

  Age

  ‘Funny, endearing…A must read.’

  Daily Telegraph

  ‘Laugh-out-loud funny, poignant and so ingenious

  and compelling you feel as if you want to jump

  into the world of the novel and join in.’

  Australian Women’s Weekly

  ‘One of the most endearing, charming and fascinating

  literary characters I have met in a long time.’

  The Times

  Also By Graeme Simsion

  The Rosie Project

  The Rosie Effect

  The Rosie Result

  The Best of Adam Sharp

  By Graeme Simsion & Anne Buist

  Two Steps Forward

  Graeme Simsion is a Melbourne-based novelist and screenwriter. The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect have combined global sales approaching five million copies. Graeme is also the author of the international bestsellers The Best of Adam Sharp and—co-written with his wife, Anne Buist—Two Steps Forward. His screenplay for The Rosie Project is in development with Sony Pictures, The Best of Adam Sharp is in development with Toni Collette’s Vocab Films, and the rights to Two Steps Forward have been optioned by Fox Searchlight and Ellen DeGeneres. Graeme’s latest book is the third and final Rosie novel, The Rosie Result.

  textpublishing.com.au

  The Text Publishing Company

  Swann House

  22 William Street

  Melbourne Victoria 3000

  Australia

  Copyright © Graeme Simsion, 2019

  The moral right of Graeme Simsion to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright above, no part of this publication shall be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

  Published by The Text Publishing Company, 2019

  Cover design by W. H. Chong

  Page design by Imogen Stubbs

  Typeset by J&M Typesetting

  ISBN: 9781925773477 (paperback)

  ISBN: 9781925774283 (ebook)

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia.