Beauty Sleep

Who am I? What am I? When am I? Laura can’t remember who she is, but the rest of the world knows. To the public, she is a living miracle—the dying girl from the 1980s who was cryogenically frozen until a cure for her rare cancer could be found. Now, forty years later, Laura has been awakened. She is a real-life Sleeping Beauty, cured of her illness but thrust into a world that has moved on without her. Everything is different: the technology, the culture, and the people she once knew. Her mother and brother are gone, and her best friend Stacey is now an elderly woman who is legally barred from contacting her by a mysterious injunction. Told through dual perspectives, the story follows Laura as she struggles to reconstruct her identity while navigating a futuristic society obsessed with digital footprints and perfection. She is joined by Shem, a homeless boy living 'off-grid' in a world where being without an electronic identity is a crime. As Laura's memories slowly return, she begins to realize that the circumstances of her 'sleep' and the motivations of those who woke her are far more sinister than they appear. This fast-paced, high-concept thriller blends elements of science fiction and contemporary mystery, drawing comparisons to Black Mirror. Laura must solve the mystery of what happened to her old life and determine who she can truly trust before her second chance at life is snatched away. It is a gripping exploration of identity, the ethics of medical progress, and the unintended consequences of playing with time.