The mysterious business of noticing

And the book that kept showing up

For eight years, a book has persistently shown up in the most extraordinary places. It’s not a profound book, or a particularly good one, now I’ve read it. And why it was so important that I read it, is not yet clear; but, there is something mysterious about these things that reveal themselves when you’re in the business of noticing them.

When I first came across The Rosie Project, it was at work. I worked in a media agency, and a colleague was clearing out her desk as she prepared to leave. Knowing I loved books, she placed a pile on my desk. Some were fiction, some non-fiction, but one of those books was The Rosie Project.

The Rosie Project, by Australian author Graham Simpson, tells the story of Don Tillerman, a genetics professor at a University in Melbourne, and his quest for love. He has a specific list of requirements for his future wife. And in comes Rosie, who meets none of these. Throughout the book, Don helps Rosie with a problem, and eventually, through twists and turns, they fall in love.

Pretty standard rom-comm formula. I must have read hundreds of books that follow this story structure, but for some reason, this book wanted me to read it.

After my colleague left the book on my desk, I placed it in my bottom drawer where, through many desk moves, it remained for another two years. Where from time to time, I’d catch a glimpse of the cover. Pale yellow with a red lobster at the centre, peaking out from under the full notebooks, used post-its and unwanted secret Santa gifts. Then when it came time for me to leave that job, I placed it in the shared bookcase in the atrium of my old office and never gave it a thought; until it began showing up again.

Over the years, I’d noticed the book in reading features, mentioned as a favourite book, as I skimmed magazines. And in the fiction section of bookshops. Every time I thought nothing of it. Until an exercise from a personal development course encouraged me to think about any books that kept showing up. Then I began noticing it again.

I was at The Cheltenham Literature Festival in October last year. There was a lunchtime talk by author Rachel Marks, a local author who had a new book out Hello Stranger. She spoke about the authors and genres of books that had taught and inspired her as she studied at novel writing at Curtis Brown Creative and wrote her first book. She talked about David Nichols and the influence of his book One Day, and she mentioned, you guessed it, The Rosie Project.

Then a few weeks ago, perhaps tired of waiting, it gave it one last shot. I walked into my local library to return a book and have a browse, and there it was. Not just languishing on the shelf but front and centre on a display titled feel-good stories. So after 8 years I picked it up and took it home. This book was first published in 2014, so across the full life of the book, it has been actively chasing me down to read.

So now I’ve read it. Do I know why it persistently kept showing up? No, that part is not yet clear. So I’m putting it on this Substack, just in case it’s been following you about too, and you need that last nudge. To pick it up and finally get between its pages. In the extraordinary event that between those pages, there might be just the thing you’ve been looking for. 

I’m curious if you’ve had a similar experience. I’d love to hear.