Before I Go To Sleep - I can't remember how many pages - I can't remember who wrote the book, either
You know what would be great about having a significant other with amnesia? Nothing. Especially if you're like Christine in Before I Go To Sleep; her memory gets knocked out every time she rests her head on a pillow. She has that Memento or 50 First Dates thing going on.
What's a girl with a condition to do? See a doctor behind her husband Ben's back? Keep a hidden journal and write in big bold letters on the first page "DO NOT TRUST BEN"? Sure sure. Sounds great. Ben is her husband and seems to take care of Christine. But obviously something unseemly is going on in the household.
After Christine starts keeping track of her memories in a journal (which comprises a majority of the novel) things start to get odd. Like, for instance, why doesn't Christine have any friends? Where is the rest of her family? Ben is lying about something, but is it for her own good? Is he trying to spare her feelings? Imagine having to tell someone every day that their son is dead. It'd be heartbreaking all over again.
I was expecting the journal entries--or Christine's days---to repeat themselves like in all those episodes of Star Trek where they get stuck in a time loop or lose their memories. She does get a Groundhog Day-type thing going on at one point; but each day is unique, each journal entry a little bit more different. When Christine finally starts digging into her own past; the novel really starts to take off.
I really wish I had slowed down and enjoyed Before I Go to Sleep a little bit more; I read it in two days over the weekend so I feel like I didn't give it enough attention; but that's because I couldn't put it down. It is a memory thriller and it's all been done before; but Christine's unique voice and SJ Watson's writing keeps it from being, well, a repeat.
Favorite line: