S.J. Watson's debut novel, Before I Go to Sleep, is a brilliant, nasty noir. It drags you down into deep, dark and disturbing waters. It entertains while touching on complex questions of the meaning of identity and memory ... Watson presents a character existing in a condition of perpetual now-ness, a present without context, a life without history. It is a kind of hell — an intellectual and emotional state devoid of meaning or emotion ... The amnesiac narrator and reader experience the story in the same uncertain present, searching for the truth of the past and the dangers of the future ... One can't help but be impressed by Watson's skill. This British writer's attention to detail and empathy are impressive.
Most of this chilling debut novel, then, consists of that journal, scribbled in confusion, terror and longing — the longing to be whole again that is at the core of any erasure of self. But Christine, unlike some amnesiacs, derives no comfort from any of the handful of people in her life ... Author S.J. Watson, a 40-year-old British audiologist-turned-writer, describes a woman's psyche with intimate accuracy. Christine's journal is packed with prosaic details of her mundane days, dialogue in which she works to collect her memories, and many passages of wonder ... This chilling story is nothing like the Drew Barrymore romp in 50 First Dates. Christine finds no romance in her affliction ... We walk step by step in Christine's shoes on an exhilarating and terrifying path toward the truth of the accident that altered her ...an otherwise excellent, haunting tale.
Before I Go to Sleep drinks purer water from a deeper well ...it's exceptionally accomplished – like David Nicholls's One Day...some ways it's an inversion of Borges's story 'Funes, the Memorious'... Chrissie developed a form of amnesia which has left her able to store memories for only 24 hours ...The novel takes the form of a journal [Chrissie] is encouraged to keep by a Dr Nash, who has, without Ben's knowledge, taken an interest in her case ... structure is so dazzling it almost distracts you from the quality of the writing. No question, this is a very literary thriller ...also has – and expects its readers to share – a delicate appreciation of the links between fabulation (that is, the writing of stories that violate readerly expectations) and confabulation (the creation of false memories and experiences by a damaged brain) ... it proceeds from ordinary life in tiny, terrifying steps, and is all the better for it.
British author S.J. Watson tackles the power of memories in his mesmerizing debut Before I Go to Sleep. Watson also adds an extra spin — not only does Christine Lucas not remember her past, but her lack of memory has robbed her of any feelings ... Watson bends his intense psychological thriller in myriad ways, making the reader simultaneously empathize and doubt each character ... Each snippet of Christine's memory appears to be a victory as well as a setback ... At each turn, clues to Christine's past and present spin in different directions, leading to a shocking finale.
Before I Go to Sleep is the first of what is hopefully many manifestations of these. Anyone who reads this book will not soon forget it ... It is this journal that constitutes well over two-thirds of Before I Go to Sleep, covering what is approximately two weeks of Christine's life, and revealing what may or may not be inconsistencies in what Ben has been saying about Christine and her condition ...there is a dark mystery to what is occurring, one that is slowly revealed piecemeal, even as it is demonstrated that Nash's therapy may well be working. Or may not be ... An atmosphere of dread and deceit, with bad intent and otherwise, permeates... Sorting it out, or at least attempting to do so, is all a part of the process that makes this debut work a one-sit reading exercise from beginning to end ...a great, jaw-dropping ending.
Based upon a deceptively simple premise, Watson’s debut novel unwinds as a story that is both complicated and compellingly hypnotic ... Christine remembers nothing of the day before and not much of the life she lived prior to these mornings ... Most disturbing, though, is the older man she does not recognize beside her in bed ...Christine is seeing a doctor behind Ben’s back. His name is Dr. Nash, and he encourages her to keep a journal. It is through this journal that she begins to pick up the pieces of her life and who she was before she was injured ...writes in the first person, from the perspective of a woman, and the voice is surprisingly spot-on ...angst is unimaginable but palpable in this suspenseful story... Watson’s pitch-perfect writing propels the story to a frenzied climax that will haunt readers long after they’ve closed the cover on this remarkable book.
