Melissa Pace’s debut novel The Once and Future Me is an ambitious psychological thriller that dares to ask: What happens when you can’t trust your own mind, especially when the fate of humanity might depend on it? This genre-blending narrative masterfully weaves together elements of science fiction, psychological horror, and historical drama into a story that will leave readers questioning the very nature of reality itself.
The novel opens with a haunting image—a woman awakening on a patient transport bus with no memory of who she is or how she got there. What follows is a labyrinthine journey through competing realities that challenges both protagonist and reader to distinguish between delusion and truth, between mental illness and time travel, between salvation and damnation.
The Unreliable Architecture of Identity
A Protagonist Caught Between Worlds
Pace’s central character exists in a fascinating liminal space between Dorothy Frasier, a paranoid schizophrenic committed to Hanover State Psychiatric Hospital in 1954 Virginia, and Bix, a time traveler from 2035 on a desperate mission to save humanity from a civilization-ending virus called the Guest. This duality serves as more than just a plot device—it becomes the novel’s central metaphor for the fragility of identity and the malleability of truth.
The genius of Pace’s characterization lies in how she refuses to give readers easy answers. Even as the narrative progresses and certain “facts” seem to emerge, the author maintains an atmosphere of profound uncertainty that mirrors the protagonist’s own fractured mental state. The voice in her head could be a symptom of schizophrenia or the remnant of her true identity fighting against the psychiatric establishment’s attempts to erase it.
The Horrors of 1950s Psychiatric Treatment
Pace demonstrates remarkable research and sensitivity in her portrayal of mid-20th century mental health treatment. The scenes in Hanover State Hospital are genuinely disturbing, not through sensationalism but through their clinical detachment and institutional brutality. The author’s depiction of electroshock therapy, chemical restraints, and psychological manipulation feels both historically accurate and viscerally horrifying.
Dr. Sherman’s “protocol” serves as a chilling reminder of how easily medical authority can become a tool of oppression. The way psychiatric treatment strips away agency, memory, and identity creates a perfect parallel to the time travel elements—both involve the erasure and reconstruction of the self.
The Complex Mechanics of Genre-Blending
Science Fiction Elements That Serve Character
The time travel aspects of The Once and Future Me are refreshingly grounded in emotional reality rather than technological exposition. Pace wisely focuses on the psychological toll of temporal displacement rather than getting bogged down in scientific explanations. The future world of 2035, devastated by the Guest virus, feels authentically desperate without resorting to excessive world-building.
The concept of the Guest virus—a pathogen that remains dormant until age 25, creating a world populated only by young adults racing against their biological clocks—is both scientifically plausible and emotionally devastating. This creates genuine stakes that extend far beyond the protagonist’s personal journey.
Historical Fiction Grounding
The 1954 setting is meticulously crafted, from the social attitudes toward mental illness to the period-appropriate dialogue and cultural references. Pace’s attention to historical detail serves the story’s themes beautifully, particularly in how the era’s patriarchal medical establishment mirrors the controlling forces in the future timeline.
Narrative Strengths and Structural Innovation
The Masterful Use of Unreliable Narration
Pace employs unreliable narration not as a gimmick but as an essential tool for exploring themes of memory, identity, and truth. The reader experiences the protagonist’s confusion firsthand, making every revelation feel both shocking and inevitable. The author maintains perfect balance between providing enough clues for readers to piece together the puzzle while preserving the mystery until the crucial moments.
The way memory returns in fragments—sometimes through dreams, sometimes through physical triggers—feels psychologically authentic and creates a reading experience that mirrors trauma recovery.
Character Development Through Crisis
The supporting characters, particularly Worthy (the sympathetic deputy) and Mary Pell (the brilliant psychiatrist masquerading as a catatonic patient), are fully realized individuals rather than mere plot devices. Paul, the husband who may be protector or captor, represents one of the novel’s most complex moral questions—the thin line between love and control.
The relationship between the protagonist and Ethan (her brother from the future) provides emotional anchor points that prevent the story from becoming purely cerebral. Their bond feels genuine despite the surreal circumstances.
Critical Analysis and Shortcomings
Pacing Challenges in the Middle Act
While Pace’s ambition is admirable, the novel occasionally struggles under the weight of its complex premise. The middle section, particularly during the hospital sequences, sometimes feels repetitive as the protagonist cycles through doubt, revelation, and confusion. Some readers may find themselves impatient with the deliberate withholding of information, though this mirrors the protagonist’s own frustration effectively.
The Challenge of Multiple Realities
The novel’s greatest strength—its refusal to provide easy answers—may also frustrate some readers seeking clearer resolution. The ending, while emotionally satisfying, leaves certain questions about the nature of reality deliberately ambiguous. This is likely intentional, given the themes of the novel, but some readers may find it unsatisfying.
Historical Context and Modern Sensibilities
While Pace handles the historical setting with care, there are moments where modern perspectives on mental health and gender roles feel slightly anachronistic. However, this may be intentional, given that the protagonist’s consciousness potentially spans multiple time periods.
Thematic Depth and Cultural Relevance
Mental Health and Agency
The Once and Future Me serves as a powerful commentary on mental health treatment, patient agency, and the dangerous power dynamics inherent in psychiatric care. The novel’s exploration of how easily society can strip away someone’s identity and autonomy feels particularly relevant in contemporary discussions about mental health stigma and medical ethics.
The Nature of Truth and Memory
Pace explores how memory constructs identity and how easily that construction can be manipulated or destroyed. The novel suggests that truth may be less important than the stories we tell ourselves to survive—a theme that resonates in our current era of contested narratives and alternative facts.
Sacrifice and Moral Complexity
The protagonist’s journey forces her to make increasingly difficult moral choices, from allowing Mary Pell to die to protect the timeline to potentially embracing her violent capabilities to save humanity. Pace refuses to present these as easy decisions, instead exploring the psychological cost of heroism.
Literary Craftsmanship and Style
Pace’s Distinctive Voice
Pace demonstrates impressive range in her debut, seamlessly shifting between the clinical detachment of hospital scenes and the desperate urgency of the future timeline. Her prose is clean and efficient without being sparse, allowing the complex plot to unfold naturally without unnecessary embellishment.
The author’s background in television writing serves her well here—she understands how to build tension through pacing and how to use visual details to create atmosphere. The novel reads cinematically without feeling like a screenplay in disguise.
Dialogue and Authenticity
The period-appropriate dialogue never feels forced or overly mannered, while the future timeline conversations maintain believable urgency without resorting to excessive technobabble. Paul’s psychological manipulation is particularly well-crafted, showing how gaslighting operates through seemingly caring language.
Comparison to Genre Contemporaries
Standing Among Science Fiction Thrillers
The Once and Future Me joins the ranks of successful genre-blending novels like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets Dark Matter. While it shares DNA with time travel narratives like 11/22/63 and psychological thrillers like Shutter Island, Pace’s novel carves out its own distinct territory by focusing on the internal experience of temporal displacement rather than its external mechanics.
The novel’s exploration of psychiatric abuse recalls One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but with a feminist perspective that examines how women’s agency has been historically undermined by medical authority.
Recommended for Readers Who Enjoyed
- Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (reality-bending science fiction with emotional core)
- The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (time travel as relationship drama)
- Recursion by Blake Crouch (memory and reality manipulation)
- The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (historical fiction with strong female voices)
Final Verdict
The Once and Future Me is a remarkable debut that successfully balances high-concept science fiction with intimate character study. While it occasionally struggles with pacing and the complexity of its premise, Pace has created a genuinely original work that lingers in the mind long after the final page.
The novel succeeds because it uses its speculative elements to explore fundamentally human questions about identity, agency, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. Pace has announced herself as a writer to watch, demonstrating the kind of ambitious storytelling and thematic complexity that elevates genre fiction into something approaching literature.
Despite minor shortcomings in pacing and the challenging nature of its ambiguous resolution, this is a compelling read that rewards careful attention and repeat reading. The novel’s exploration of mental health, historical injustice, and moral complexity makes it particularly relevant for contemporary readers grappling with questions of truth and agency in their own lives.
- Recommended for: Readers who enjoy complex, character-driven science fiction, fans of psychological thrillers with historical elements, and anyone interested in stories that challenge conventional narrative structures while exploring serious themes about identity and mental health.
The Once and Future Me establishes Melissa Pace as a significant new voice in speculative fiction, one capable of crafting stories that are both intellectually challenging and emotionally resonant. This is debut fiction at its finest—ambitious, thoughtful, and deeply human.