Before I Go to Sleep
By Shelli Kauffman, head of adult services at Bremen Public Library
Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson is one of the few books I've
read this year that actually kept me guessing until the end. Main character,
Christine Lucas, suffers a traumatic brain injury causing her to wake up each
morning with no memory of her current life. Each day her husband, Ben, must
explain who he is and who she has become since her late twenties. The terror
she experiences each morning as she encounters pictures of people she doesn't
know and objects she doesn't understand, is only surpassed by the wrinkly
reflection in the mirror of her almost fifty-year-old body.
This psychological thriller
becomes particularly intriguing as Dr. Nash is introduced early in the novel.
After Ben leaves for the day, Dr. Nash calls Christine and guides her to find a
hidden journal she has been secretly keeping that explains her day-to-day life.
As she reads the journal she realizes her own words don't always agree with her
husband's version of events. It becomes unclear if she can trust Ben, Dr. Nash,
or even herself.
If a reader can get beyond the
monotony of the main character needing the very foundation of her existence explained
to her every day, he'll be captivated by this suspenseful read, needing to get
to the last page before he can trust his own conclusions.
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