Before I Go To Sleep - S J Watson

Goodreads Blurb

Christine wakes up every morning in an unfamiliar bed with an unfamiliar man. She looks in the mirror and sees an unfamiliar, middle- aged face. And every morning, the man she has woken up with must explain that he is Ben, he is her husband, she is forty-seven years old, and a terrible accident two decades earlier decimated her ability to form new memories.

But it’s the phone call from a Dr. Nash, a neurologist who claims to be working with Christine without her husband’s knowledge, that directs her to her journal, hidden in the back of her closet. For the past few weeks, Christine has been recording her daily activities—tearful mornings with Ben, sessions with Dr. Nash, flashes of scenes from her former life—and rereading past entries, relearning the facts of her life as retold by the husband she is completely dependent upon. As the entries build up, Christine asks many questions. What was life like before the accident? Why did she and Ben never have a child? What has happened to Christine’s best friend? And what exactly was the horrific accident that caused such a profound loss of memory?

Every day, Christine must begin again the reconstruction of her past. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more un- believable it seems.

MY REVIEW

I read this in a few sittings, couldn’t put it down for the last half and ended up reading until the early hours of the morning.  The idea of waking in the morning believing you are in your twenties or younger only to discover that you are forty seven years old and have to spend each morning trying to piece together your life, knowing that you will forget it all again when you go to sleep, is a scary senario used to great effect in this psychological  thriller.  The author draws you in to the drama using the main protagonist Christine’s perspective.  Her missing years are revealed slowly in tantalising snippits, the reader piecing together the story at the same time as Christine, sharing her fears, doubts and uncertainties leading to the final outcome which didn’t come as a complete surprise but was none the less riviting.  A very engrossing, enjoyable read.

 

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