Before I Go to Sleep

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson is a best-selling novel recently adapted into a major motion picture. The story follows a woman who wakes up one day not knowing who she is, where she is, or what has happened to her. The woman, Christine, learns she was involved in an accident many years earlier and suffers from anterograde amnesia meaning she wakes up each day without any recollection of the day before or what has occurred in her past. She meets the same people everyday as if for the first time including her husband and her doctor.

The novel takes the reader through Christine's agony of having to piece her life back together. We read her journal entries each day after her doctor recommends she start keeping one privately. Slowly, we realize things aren't adding up. Parts of her life seem to be missing, stories change drastically, and secrets seem to fuel her daily experiences.

The ending reveals itself quickly and fiercely as her memories come flooding back and the biggest secret of all is brought to light. Watson did a fantastic job building up to this dramatic and twisted ending. I could not put this novel down. Each turn of the page seemed to bring another piece of information that made me question my previous theory. For a novel that dives head first into a unique and terrifying condition, Before I Go to Sleep must be added to your list.