When Christine wakes every morning she does not recognise the man beside her. Sometimes her last memories are of early childhood. Sometimes they are from her early twenties. As the result of an accident she is unable to hold onto new memories for more than a day. They are lost when she goes to sleep.
The story is told through a journal she has started to keep at the suggestion of her therapist, Dr Nash. Her meetings with him are kept secret from her husband, Ben, as her journal leads her to believe she does not trust him. Christine begins to suspect Ben is keeping things from her, as she struggles to piece together her past.
This is an extraordinary thriller. Watson uses the journal to tease out details and develop the characters while allowing you to question what is real and what may be a false memory. This suspense story is also not without heart. The themes look at the important role memory plays in our identity, and what happens when we forget the people we love. It also looks at how we change memories, and the ability we all have to mould them into what we want them to be.
I particularly enjoyed that Watson took his time to explore Christine’s pain and the absolute unfairness of her situation. While the pacing is good he does allow room for her to mourn the life she does not remember and also contemplate the point of her existence. Would you want to rebuild who you are every single day? She must also question herself, and decide which parts of her journal to trust.
The ending does not disappoint but it does feel rushed. There is a slump before the climax where you are begging for Christine to piece things together, and then it all comes rushing at you in the finale. Despite this, it is a fantastic debut novel and I couldn’t put it down.
4/5
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