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Meet best selling writer and the author of Birmingham’s Big City Read - SJ WATSON

Wed 29th February 2012

6.30pm (for 7.00pm start)

@ Birmingham Library Theatre,

Central Library, Birmingham

(This is a free event)

Please note a guest list will be in operation for this event. To book seats, please email: Nikki Bi (nikki.bi@birmingham.gov.uk) or call 0121 303 2895



The book: BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP is the story of Christine, a 47 year old writer who, following a catastrophic accident in her midtwenties, is incapable of forming and maintaining new memories for more than a day. Trapped in an existence in which she wakes every day believing herself to be single and with a whole lifetime of choice ahead f her she discovers instead that she lives with her husband, Ben, with most decisions already made. The novel charts her attempts to make sense of her world. When Christine learns that she has been meeting with a doctor who is helping her to recover her memory ‐ and that following his suggestion she has been keeping a journal in order to record her fragmentary recollections and piece toether her past ‐ she is hopeful that she may be cured. But the story that emerges is to set in motion a terrifying voyage of discovery that will ultimately have startling consequencs for her and all who love her, leading her to question whether the truth is sometimes better left forgotten.



Before I Go to Sleep is the stunning debut novel from British newcomer SJ Watson and was the winner of both the CWA John Crease New Blood Dagger for best debut novel of 2011 and the Galaxy National Book Awards Crime & Thriller of the Year 2011. The book has attracted world wide acclaim and has been sold to over 30 territories around the world and translated into over 3 languages. Before I Go to Sleep has been also been acquired for film by Ridley Scott’s production company, Scott Free, with Rowan Joffe (28 Weeks Later; The American) to direct. The novel has been acclaimed by some of the most respected and bestselling contemporary authors and SJ Watson has since been wdely recognised as one of the most exciting new authors of 2011 by national newspapers and magazines.



2012 has already seen Before I Go To Sleep as the number one selling book in the Sunday Times bestseller list. It has also been selected for The TV Book Club and is featured in Richard & Judy 2012 Book Club.



Praise for BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP:



“Quite simply the best debut I’ve ever read” ‐ TESS GERRITSEN

“A terrific first novel... Thrillers seldom come much better than this” ‐

JOANNE HARRIS

“S J Watson’s debut doesn’t put a foot wrong... Unforgettable” ‐

FINANCIAL TIMES

“An unsettling, compulsive thriller...A truly gripping read” ‐

MARIE CLAIRE

The writer: S J Watson was born in the Midlands, lives in London and worked in the NHS for a number of years. In 2009 Watson was accepted into the first Faber Academy ‘Writing a Novel’ Course, a programme that covers all aspects of the novelwriting process. Before I Go to Sleep is the result.

For more information about Steve and his work, please visit: www.sjwatson‐books.com