The Rosie Effect

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the source text’s depiction of ableism, drug addiction, suicidal ideation, and murder-suicide induced by postpartum psychosis.

Don Tillman is confused when his wife, Rosie Jarman, sets out orange juice on Friday, because Friday is one of the days that the schedule-oriented Don has classified as a day for alcohol consumption. He used to have a Standardized Meal Plan, by which he ate the same meals every week, but Rosie objected to this and scheduled sex. However, he retains cues for initiating intimacy: Don buys her a blueberry muffin and three-shot espresso, takes off his shirt, and impersonates actor Gregory Peck.

Don and Rosie have a small apartment in New York City close to Columbia, where he teaches and she is finishing her PhD thesis on environmental risks to early onset bipolar disorder. He adores his wife, but as he prepares dinner, he experiences “an intense moment of fear that she would someday realize her error” in choosing him as her husband (3). Her spontaneity is in opposition to his scrupulous rationale, but he feels they are a successful couple.