come into herself

[jimcool]

From some book:

"While it was happening, of course, she was caught up in it, but once it faded and she came into herself again, all she knew was terror."

"Came into herself" seems to mean something physical, like "wake up". Am I wrong?

[5jj]

More context would help.

[emsr2d2]

More context would be good. Also, saying "From some book..." is a rather offhand and almost insulting way of referring to a book. You could have started with "I found this phrase in a book and I am having trouble understanding it..." or simply "I found this in a book..." There is no reason not to give the title of the book. It might help.

[jimcool]

Cold Black Hearts

By Jeffrey J. Mariotte

Page 33

[JohnParis]

Like Fivejedjon and emsr2d2 have said, more context and the title of the book would help and be appropriate.
My instincts tell me, however, that this may be a misprint and that the author may have meant to say "...but once it faded and she came to herself again..."
Sometimes, after a fall or a blow to the head, one can become disorientated. Once you regain your senses (or come to yourself) the symptoms of the accident fade, and you return to yourself.
John

[jimcool]

More context:

"Alone in the apartment, Annie went into the bathroom and regarded herself in her familiar mirror, with familiar surroundings reflected around her. Everything, in fact, was familiar, but that familiarity didn't disguise the fact that a stranger stared back at her from the glass. That person had an ability that the Annie O'Brien she had grown up as, lived her whole life as, could never have imagined. Every time she thought she was getting used to it, she brushed up against someone and caught a thrill of fear or lust or anxiety or contentment or something else. Each time she was snatched out of herself and thrown into that other person's secret heart. While it was happening, of course, she was caught up in it, but once it faded and she came into herself again, all she knew was terror."

[Barb_D]

So this character in the story can actually enter others people's minds?

In that case, it's rather literal -- she is taken out of herself, and put into these other people. This sentence refers to when she comes back into her own body and her own mind.