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Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson; the first paragraphs

Just finished S.J. Watson's thriller Before I Go To Sleep.  I'll try to get my take posted soon but The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker is technically first on my to-do list. For now I've put down some thoughts on my Currently Reading page.

I will say these first two paragraphs got me ...

Today
"The bedroom is strange. Unfamiliar. I don't know where I am, how I came to be here. I don't know how I'm going to get home.

I have spent the night here. I was woken by a woman's voice - at first I thought she was in bed with me, but then realized she was reading the news and I was hearing a radio alarm - and when I opened my eyes found myself here. In this room I do not recognize."

'In this room I do not recognize.'  An ominous beginning, yes? 

The screen adaptation is in works for release next year. Here's how the producers sum it up on imdb.com:

A woman wakes up every day, remembering nothing as a result of a traumatic accident in her past. One day, new terrifying truths emerge that force her to question everyone around her.

The film stars Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong and is currently filming at Twickenham Studios and in and around London. I think the casting of Kidman as Christine, the woman with amnesia, and the eternal good guy Firth as her husband Ben is brilliantly spot on. If Mark Strong is playing her doctor, at 50ish, he's not as young as the Dr. Nash that Watson has written (in the novel Dr. Nash is a good deal younger than the 47 year old Christine ) but he'll do nicely, very, very nicely. I say 'if' because imdb hasn't posted their character names yet but most of the trades report Kidman was cast first, then Strong as the doctor, with Firth following as Ben. Anne-Marie Duff - Edith in Parades End -  is Christine's friend, Claire. Dean-Charles Chapman - Martyn Lannister on Game of Thrones is the son, Adam.

I actually think Strong or Colin Firth could play the more demanding role of the husband and I almost wish  it was Strong that got it; he must have wanted it. While he's well known for leading parts in Britain, we just don't see enough of him here in the states; not only is he a fine and underutilized actor, he's also sexy as hell.  IMHO and all that. Strong and Colin Firth have worked together before; they both gave beautifully nuanced performances in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spythey were also in the original British film  Fever Pitch film based on Nick Hornby's novel way back in 1997 - not the 2005 remake starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. Firth and Nicole Kidman recently wrapped The Railway Men based on Eric Lomax's eponymous memoir, which comes out later this year.

First Paragraph Tuesday at Bibliophile by the Sea