S
S. J. Watson
S. J. Watson is the author of the psychological thriller Before I Go to Sleep. This book has been a global success, also published as No Confes En Nadie and Voor ik ga slapen
Before I Go to Sleep
Synopsis
Christine Lucas wakes every morning in a bed she doesn't recognize, beside a man who says he is her husband — and every night, as she sleeps, her memory is wiped clean again. An injury years ago left her unable to form new long-term memories, so each day she must be told who she is, where she is, and what happened to the life she cannot remember.
Then a doctor contacts her secretly, and Christine begins keeping a journal — a record hidden from her husband, read and rewritten each day, slowly accumulating the fragments of a past that doesn't add up. As the entries pile up, a terrifying question sharpens: if she can't trust her own mind, who can she trust at all?
S. J. Watson's debut is a tautly constructed psychological thriller about memory, identity, and gaslighting, built on a narrator who has to solve the mystery of her own life one forgotten day at a time.
Genres
Characters
Christine LucasProtagonist
A woman with anterograde amnesia piecing together her life through a secret journal.
Ben LucasAntagonist
King NashSupporting
A doctor secretly helping Christine recover her memory.
Frequently asked questions
Is the book based on a true story?
The narrative is a work of fiction, though the author conducted extensive research into case studies of memory loss and neurological conditions to ensure the medical plausibility of the protagonist's experience.
Is there a film adaptation of this book?
A feature film adaptation was released in 2014, directed by Rowan Joffé and starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, and Mark Strong.