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'The Rosie Effect,' the sequel to bestseller 'The Rosie Project,' comes to the US next month

'The Rosie Effect' has already been released in some other countries to mixed reviews. One critic called the sequel 'twice as long [as "The Rosie Project"] and only half as good,' though another found it to be a 'chuckle-filled triumph.'

'The Rosie Effect' is by Graeme Simsion.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

“The Rosie Effect,” the sequel to author Graeme Simsion’s bestseller “The Rosie Project,” is set to arrive in US bookstores next month. The book has already been released in the United Kingdom and Australia, where it has received largely positive – although somewhat mixed – reviews. Simsion says he’s planning at least one more book about the “Rosie” characters.

 “The Rosie Project,” which centers on scientist Don Tillman and his quest to find a wife, was first released in the US this past June to both critical and popular acclaim, with Amazon selecting it as one of the 10 best books of the month. “The Rosie Project” is still on bestseller lists, appearing in ninth place on the IndieBound trade paperback fiction bestseller list for the week of Nov. 20 and at number 11 on the New York Times trade paperback fiction bestseller list for the week of Nov. 23. Meanwhile, “The Rosie Project” is currently in production, with “The Fault in Our Stars” writers Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustadter having signed on, according to Deadline, and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who directed “The Lego Movie,” reportedly considering helming the film.

“The Rosie Effect,” which will be published in the US on Dec. 30, has already been assessed by readers in the UK. (Spoilers for the book follow). Guardian critic Alfred Hickling wrote of Simsion, “His great skill as a writer of comic fiction ... is to engender an empathetic response to a character incapable of empathizing with others…. [F]or those who cannot get enough of [Don’s] pedantic faux pas, this hefty new installment offers plenty more laugh-out-loud moments…. [But] one would have to conclude that it fulfils a formula familiar to many sequels of bestelling novels in that it is twice as long and only half as good.”

Meanwhile, in Canada, Dave Williamson of the Winnipeg Free Press wrote, “It's another well-written romantic comedy that moves along at a leisurely pace, with Don's quirks and Rosie's [pregnancy] providing enough laughs and plot twists to keep the reader engaged.” In Australia, Sydney Morning Herald writer Daphne Guinness called the book “a very funny book, possibly the funniest this year…. Simsion is back in his stride…. We can only hope the third installment is lurking around to produce another chuckle-filled triumph.”

Speaking of that third book, West Australian writer Amanda Ellis wrote that “Simsion [is toying] with ideas for book three – the uncontracted fourth novel is still on the drawing board” and that Simsion has a contract for a third book but that it’s not necessarily a “Rosie” novel.

However, Simsion spoke about his idea for a third novel. “I think that the obvious prompt for the third book is if we were to go down five or six years, or seven years down the track and imagine a child – still at that age that parents can still make a very big difference and perhaps turning out a little like Don – and raise questions about how much parents should choose to influence their child,” he told the West Australian.

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