Who Do You Trust When You Can't Remember Anyone?

Before I go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

Another book club read.  This is the August book chosen by Sam Taylor.  It is a British novel about an amnesiac that whenever she goes to sleep, Christine cannot remember what happened the day before or even 20 years before.  She wakes up “today” and is learning about her life and from her husband and a young doctor that wants to complete research on her rare condition.

My absolute favorite thing about this book was how it was written.  The audience starts the book on “today” and as she learns about her past from her husband Ben and Dr. Nash she is disturbed by how she is unable to trigger any memories of her day to day life or how she is unable to remember how she got to be like this.  When she meets with Dr. Nash he gives her the journal that she has consistently been writing in for a few weeks now.  If she misses a day, that would be a day lost forever.  As we read her journal with her, the audience is learning all about what’s been going on and her flashes of memory that have been documented in her hand writing.  Although she does not know who she can trust, as the story continues and we return to “today,” Christine understands that maybe she should trust no one but herself.  This was an intriguing journey of an amnesiac that had to start over every day. 

I enjoyed this book very much.  It was a fast pace book that was suspenseful and had great twists and turns throughout the book.  I enjoyed how Watson kept us on the edge of our seats while we discovered Christine’s life along with her.  What a great read.

There is not a whole lot to talk about with this book, I don’t want to give any spoilers.  It was easy to me to guess what was going on, but I still enjoyed the ride.  This book did not take very long, I guess I read it over the course of a week, but I had a little more time this last week than usual. 

I would absolutely recommend this book to any adult readers, there is some language sprinkled throughout, so I wouldn’t recommend to anyone under the age of 17 or so.  But to each his own.  Happy Reading!