Sunday 6 April 2014

Before I Go to Sleep

Finished April 6
Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson

This novel was one I could barely put down. Christine wakes up in the morning to a bedroom she is not familiar with, beside a man she does not recognize, a man with a wedding ring on his finger. When she goes to the bathroom, she finds that she is twenty years older than she expects to be, and the photos taped around her mirror tell her that the man in bed with her is her husband, whose name is Ben.
When she returns to the bedroom and asks questions, she is told there was an accident, when she was twenty-nine and she is now forty-seven. Later that day, a Dr. Nash phones her and says that he has been working with her without Ben's knowledge in hopes of making some progress with her memory. He gives her a blank notebook and encourages her to begin keeping a journal to see if she remembers different things and to see what things might trigger her memory.
As she begins to have different memories, she finds that Ben has been lying to her. But is he lying to make things easier, so he doesn't have to explain things that will upset her over and over again. So that he doesn't have to talk about the things that upset him. Or is there something more sinister to his behaviour?
This book had me, wanting to know what Christine discovered next, what new things she learned about her life. But the twist at the end took my by surprise, and yet seemed inevitable at the same time.
A great psychological thriller with a plot that is original and gripping.

2 comments:

  1. I have this on my shelf, thanks for your thoughts.

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  2. I have this. I must read it one of these days!

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