The Once and Future Me

Dark Matter meets Girl, Interrupted in this gripping psychological thriller about a young woman teetering on the edge of reality.

Virginia, 1954. When a woman wakes on a patient transport bus arriving at Hanover State Psychiatric Hospital, she remembers nothing of her life before that moment, none of the dark things she must've seen and done that forged her into the skillful and cunning fighter she is. Doctors tell her she's Dorothy Frasier, a paranoid schizophrenic, committed for her violent delusions. She's certain they're wrong--until disturbing visions of a dystopian future in which frantic scientists urge her to complete "the mission" and save mankind begin to invade her reality.

Believing it's Hanover causing the hallucinations, she tells no one and focuses only on escaping--until there's a visitor. A man whose loving face--and touch--she remembers, a man who knows all about her visions, because he's spent years helping her cope with them: her husband, Paul Frasier.

Now she's sure of nothing, caught between two realities. Believe in the future, and she might save the world. Believe in her husband and doctors' plans for her treatment, and she might save herself. She needs answers, but to get them she'll have to harness the darkness inside her as she risks her freedom, her mind, and ultimately her life in a heart-stopping quest for the truth.

Author: Melissa Pace
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Published: 08/19/2025
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781250358677


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 06/02/2025
Library Journal 05/30/2025 pg. 1
Booklist 06/01/2025 pg. 52
Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2025

About the Author
A graduate of Wesleyan University, Melissa Pace is a former editor and writer for Elle, as well as a past finalist for the Humanitas New Voices Fellowship for emerging film and television writers. The mother of three amazing children, Pace lives with her husband in Los Angeles, and when not writing she likes to lace up her cleats and get all her ya-yas out on the soccer field. The Once and Future Me is her first novel. Connect with her on Instagram @melissadugganpace.