Before I Go To Sleep
A Novel
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4.1 • 2.6K Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
New
York Times Bestseller
“An
exceptional thriller. It left my nerves jangling for hours after I finished the
last page.” —Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling
author of Shutter Island
“Imagine
drifting off every night knowing that your memories will be wiped away by
morning. That’s the fate of Christine Lucas, whose bewildering internal world
is rendered with chilling intimacy in this debut literary thriller. . . .
You’ll stay up late reading until you know.” —People (4 stars)
Memories
define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name,
your identity, your past, even the people you love–all forgotten overnight. And
the one person you trust may be telling you only half the story. Welcome to
Christine's life. Every morning, she awakens beside a stranger in an unfamiliar
bed. She sees a middle-aged face in the bathroom mirror that she does not
recognize. And every morning, the man patiently explains that he is Ben, her
husband, that she is forty-seven-years-old, and that an accident long ago
damaged her ability to remember.
In
place of memories Christine has a handful of pictures, a whiteboard in the
kitchen, and a journal, hidden in a closet. She knows about the journal because
Dr. Ed Nash, a neurologist who claims to be treating her without Ben’s
knowledge, reminds her about it each day. Inside its pages, the damaged woman
has begun meticulously recording her daily events—sessions with Dr. Nash,
snippets of information that Ben shares, flashes of her former self that
briefly, miraculously appear.
But as the pages accumulate, inconsistencies begin to
emerge, raising disturbing questions that Christine is determined to find
answers to. And the more she pieces together the shards of her broken life, the
closer she gets to the truth . . . and the more terrifying and deadly it is.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This brain-teasing thriller asks how many of our memories we can trust. Christine is a middle-aged amnesiac for whom much of the past is a blank. Battling to regain her missing chapters, she deals with Ben, who seems to be her husband, and Dr. Nash, who says he’s been working with her on recovery. But shadows of violence and lies are looming just outside the reach of her recall, and the more her past returns to her, the closer that darkness seems to come. S. J. Watson delivers a debut novel that’s as page-turning as pulp fiction, but with real emotional depth. It’s no wonder it became a Nicole Kidman–starring film. Every phase of Christine’s daily cycle of memory loss feel frighteningly real, pulling you right into her plight. Thrills, mystery, and the slippery slopes of memory are all part of the package.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Memories real, false, and a bit of both are at the heart of British author Watson's haunting, twisted debut. Christine Lucas awakens each morning in London with no idea who she is or why she's in bed with a strange man, until he tells her that his name is Ben and they've been married for 22 years. Slowly, Christine learns that she has amnesia and is unable to remember her past or retain new memories: every night when she falls asleep, the slate is wiped clean. Dr. Nash, her therapist, has encouraged her to write in a journal that she keeps secret from Ben. Christine realizes how truly tangled and dangerous her life is after she sees the words "don't trust Ben" written in her journal, whose contents reveal that the only person she can trust is herself. Watson handles what could have turned into a cheap narrative gimmick brilliantly, building to a chillingly unexpected climax.
Customer Reviews
Before I go to sleep
can' t put it down, a little bit of length at one point when the suspens is so that we really t want o know the outcome
Engrossing
I have to admit to being disappointed that I am done with the book. Very well written, very engrossing, very thought-provoking. Definitely one that is now included on my must read list. With this fist novel, the author has definitely set a high bar. I look forward to his next novel.
Very hard to put down!
Once you start you almost can't stop. I am a big fan of the movie Memento, so I couldn't resist getting this book. It held me the entire time. My heart feared for her. Definitely worth reading.