Don is an associate professor in genetics. He's also very reserved and socially awkward. We get the impression that he's affected by Asperger's syndrome. He fusses his way through life, hating chit chat and explaining too much science in conversation. He doesn't even know that some of his interactions are funny. His couple of friends decide that all evidence to the contrary, there must be a wife out there for him. If you enjoy 'The Big Bang Theory' on TV you will equally love THE ROSIE PROJECT.

By now aged thirty-nine and in a position to meet intelligent women, Don just fails to relate to them or socialise in expected ways. He micro-manages his time and while he is kind and friendly to an older neighbour, Don stops visiting her nursing home when her Alzheimer's becomes so advanced that she doesn't know him. A girl called Julie is interested in Don, and he immediately decides to create a questionnaire to help him sort out who is a potential wife. It would save him getting to know people who aren't ideal. Gene and Claudia, Don's married friends, invite him to dinner and work on his questionnaire. They advise some practise in case the right woman does respond on-line.

Rosie is a redheaded girl in a black dress with chains, boots, glasses and arm rings. For some reason Gene sends her to meet with Don and Don immediately makes a dinner appointment with her. We don't know what's going to happen next, but even before Don tries to wear his bright yellow rainproof jacket into the posh restaurant and ends up using his martial arts skills on the doormen, we know it's going to be funny. Don's a good cook, provided his routine isn't disrupted, and over lobster salad later he tells Rosie that she's quite intelligent for a barmaid.

The unconventional Rosie is a finely written and formidable heroine. The professor's evident proficiency in many areas means that he isn't being drawn for pathos or ridicule, and most of us will identify with a social skills problem from our early days of dating or formal functions. Rosie needs help which Don's expertise can provide, so they continue to meet, with further hilarious results. Don is distressed when he is warned by the Dean that his behaviour is incorrect. If he cannot fit in at the science department of a university, he can not fit in anywhere. Meanwhile his friend Gene is carrying on in a way which most of us, including his wife, would consider extremely incorrect. I loved the sparkling tale of THE ROSIE PROJECT by Graeme Simison which is set in Melbourne and visited some very unexpected locations, and the more I read, the more I just had to keep reading. This book won the Victorian State Premier's Literary Award in 2012. As a modern romance it's in a field of its own and so far this is my favourite book of the year.