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A Novel
by Melissa Pace
Dark Matter meets Girl, Interrupted with a feminist twist in this gripping psychological thriller perfect for fans of dystopian fiction, time travel, and shows like Black Mirror and Russian Doll.
When a woman wakes up on a transport bus arriving at Hanover State Psychiatric Hospital, she remembers nothing of her life up to that moment, none of the dark things she's seen―and done―that have forged her into the steely survivor she is. Dr Sherman tells her she's Dorothy Frasier, a paranoid schizophrenic committed by the state for her violent delusions. And that it's 1954. She knows none of this is true. The only problem is, despite her fighting skills and uncanny ability to pick locks and find escape routes, she has no idea who she actually is.
Delusional episodes begin to happen more frequently, moments where she finds herself in a broken future with a ragtag team of young scientists urging her to find a doctor in 1954. Apparently, this doctor holds the key to something lying dormant in them all, something they call the Guest. When she's moved to the Unit, a section of the hospital where Dr. Sherman experiments with electroshock therapy, she knows that she has to get out―until she has a visitor. He's a man whose concerned, loving face she recognizes, a man her doctor says is Paul Frasier, her doting husband.
Now she is sure of nothing but she needs answers―about the Guest and about Paul, but most importantly about herself. But to find those answers, she will have to face the darkness inside her and use it as she risks her freedom, mind, and ultimately her life in a battle for the truth.
"A cinematic ride...One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest meets The Hunger Games—and what an offspring!" —Kirkus Reviews
"Suspenseful...the harrowing hospital scenes ground the proceedings and spotlight science's historical mistreatment of 'inconvenient' women." —Publishers Weekly
"In her debut novel, Pace asks intriguing questions about the nature of reality. Mixing elements of dystopia with feminist historical fiction, Pace creates a winning psychological thriller that will have readers eagerly turning the pages." —Booklist
"A thrilling, genre-bending, and addictive read! The Once and Future Me is a page turner with a fascinating cast of characters and a feminist twist. I couldn't put it down!" ―Amy Tintera, New York Times bestselling author of Listen for the Lie
"A truly spectacular psychological thriller about memory and identity that will absolutely blow your mind. With twists, turns and a premise to die for — stop what you're doing now and read this book!" ―Matthew Blake, International bestselling author of Anna O
This information about The Once and Future Me was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Melissa Pace, a Wesleyan University graduate, is a former editor and writer for Elle Magazine, and a past finalist in the Humanitas New Voices fellowship for emerging television and screenwriters. She is a middling soccer player, an erstwhile oil painter but a mother to three incredible grown children. Pace lives in Los Angeles with her husband. The Once and Future Me is her first novel.
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