MM Book of the Week: Before I Go to Sleep

“As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I’m still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me.”

English writer S.J. Watson has certainly started his career with a bang. His debut novel, Before I Go to Sleep, has received a considerable amount of positive attention, and for good reason. Though it’s only been a year since its publication, Before I Go to Sleep has been featured on several notable bestsellers list, has been translated into at least 30 different languages, and has a film adaptation in the works with famed English film director/producer Sir Ridley Scott.

Before I Go to Sleep tells the story of Christine Lucas, a middle-aged woman suffering from severe amnesia after being injured in a terrible accident. Each morning, Christine wakes up unaware of the past twenty or so years of her life. Some mornings, she wakes up believing she is a teenager, and other mornings she believes she is still just a child. Each day, with the help of her husband Ben, she has to relearn the basics of her life – just enough to get her through the day – with the knowledge that within twenty-four hours, she will have forgotten nearly every detail yet again.

The story is told from Christine’s point of view, so we learn about her most recent history – the events taking place within the past few weeks of her life – through a detailed journal she keeps at the insistence of her new (secret) doctor, Dr. Edmund Nash. Through this journal, and with the help of Dr. Nash, Christine begins to slowly uncover her past in fragmented flashes of memory that often leave her shaken, terrified, and hungry for more. As we follow Christine on her journey to uncover her past and regain her memory, we discover her life and learn terrible new truths along with her.

Watson’s novel is, without a doubt, the best thriller I’ve read all year. His subtle but powerful twists and turns leave readers guessing, right up to the last page. Christine’s unreliable, flimsy, and disjointed accounts of her life allows readers to really get a sense of what it’s like for her; she can’t trust anyone, and we can’t trust her. Her tentative grip of her memories throws a suspenseful shade over the story, leaving readers grasping in the dark at nearly invisible threads and tiny bits of information, much like Christine herself. Hardly knowing memory from imagination, truth from fabrication, stranger from friend or enemy, we walk through this story nearly blind, fingers outstretched, not waiting for this story to reveal itself but pushing through the doubt, confusion, and fear to reveal a bombshell ending.

Before I Go to Sleep is sure to satiate the thirst of any suspense lover and spark the curiosity of those who find interest in psychological thrillers.

Links

• S.J. Watson's official website