Chrysalis

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Susie, a work colleague, supports the protagonist when she leaves her dysfunctional relationship and her job at a law firm. Susie watches the woman develop her autonomy and train herself to be as still as possible through meditation. Her resilience becomes performative as she posts videos and launches a career as a cult figure who embraces solitude. Incredibly smart and totally unique... ranging from online obsession, to mothers and daughters, to the very nature of selfhood, the whole thing is strange and warm and, crucially, very funny... I savoured every last brilliant sentence' - Ruth Gilligan I was alternately intrigued and bemused by the structure of Chrysalis, and then I heard Anna Metcalfe speaking and she stated that the structure of her novel is near identical to Hang Kang’s The Vegetarian . I was a bit disappointed to hear this. Consider the above question in light of what Susie says here. Although some ask about Nicola's friends and family and wonder where the children are, many are moved by her presence, her strength, her stillness – her inner power. Each of these three witnesses to the woman desires closeness. Each is left with only the husk of who she was before she became someone else: a woman on a singular and solitary path with the power to inspire and to influence her followers, for good and ill.

Like the best of literary fiction, in my view, this novel is mostly about interiority, is compelling and beautifully written, I will be thinking about the issues it raises long after I have closed the cover. What more can you ask of a book? Ms Metcalfe has been selected by the literary magazine, Granta, as one of its promising young, new British novelists, it was this list that first introduced me to her. Deliciously timely... [ Chrysalis] raises questions about all sorts of themes including solitude, influence and agency. The big one is of course: how well do we really know anyone? [Anna] Metcalfe is a properly clever writer—she moves deftly between the voices of her narrators with ease, while her prose is assured, unforced and almost graceful.” — AnOther Magazine JA: I like that. It feels like capitalism asks us to tie our identity to work, and when a lot of these characters lose that or experience change, they have this moment of: Who am I? What makes me happy? Does anything make me happy? Is it consuming more that’s going to make me happy?In April 2023 Anna Metcalfe was chosen as one of the twenty young writers (under forty) to watch (by Granta magazine). I’m not sure I’ve seen enough yet to warrant such hyperbole, but nor is she a writer whose moment has yet peaked I suspect. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read an ARC and give an honest review! Chrysalis is a savvy exploration of one woman's desire to inspire others, and how self-presentation can tip into obsession... * Observer * AM: In terms of wanting, I spend much more time than I would like to admit looking at clothes on the internet. What is actually enjoyable about that is the choosing. There is something creative and interesting about choosing and thinking oh, I could be this kind of person in this kind of dress or that kind of person in that kind of dress. Actually, if I buy the thing and it arrives, the pleasure is over. The fun bit is in the choosing, not in the having.

Jacqueline Alnes: This book seems so much about perception: how we view ourselves, how we view other people, the world. What about the novel allowed you to explore that? Walking to the gym, I felt queasy, worse than if I hadn’t eaten anything. I paced up and down the car park. I took deep breaths and my stomach growled. When I got to reception, there was a new kid on the desk. Elliot, a recluse who notices her at the gym, witnesses her physical evolution and becomes her first acolyte. Bella, her mother, worries about the intense effect her daughter’s new way of life is beginning to have on others, and she reflects on their relationship, a close cocoon from which her daughter has broken free. Susie, her ex-colleague and best friend, offers her sanctuary and support as she makes the transition to self-created online phenomenon, posting viral meditation videos that encourage her followers to join her in achieving self-sufficiency by isolating themselves from everyone else in their lives. JA: It made me think so much about how we are seen, how do we wish to be seen, when do we consent to being seen, and is anyone ever really seeing another real person? This story is about a nameless but enigmatic woman, told from the perspectives of three people. First, Elliot. He obsesses over her and watches her strengthen her body after she reveals she suffered trauma. Second, her mother, Bella. She felt helpless raising her, and now she observes as her daughter’s lifestyle impacts strangers’ lives. And third, Susie, her coworker, whose life felt empty until she moved into her apartment.AM: I quite respect her artfulness in being able to put together these beautiful scenes. When I imagine the kind of content she’s producing, I imagine something that’s very artfully done, enjoyable to look at, considers things painters consider like where the light’s coming from, what the composition is. I think there’s a huge amount of skill in putting together a beautiful video. The book allows you to get this sense of there being troubled psychological reasons for her only wanting people to access a specific part of her life and a complete rejection of anything that is messy or difficult. It’s understandable, but problematic. The internal dialogue she has with herself of what is public and what is private and how she’s constructing her new self is reflective of the way in which people often use social media to become a different person. Metcalfe, who teaches creative writing at the University of Birmingham, set her students a timed writing exercise in the classroom: to invent their own “recalcitrant or hard to pin down” protagonist and then describe that character through three different points of view in 20 minutes. She sat down to do the same exercise alongside her students, and Chrysalis was born. “I’ve really borrowed my whole structure from Han Kang, hopefully not in an exercise of plagiarism but more in literary adoration,” she says cheerfully, when we meet for tea near London Bridge. One of the beauties of Chrysalis: the story isn't only about Nicola but the ways Nicola impacts the lives of those around her, particularly the novel's three narrators.

It was interesting to watch these people latch onto this woman and her own seemingly unfeeling attitude toward them. Each narrator has their own idealized view of who she is, and they can’t compute when she doesn’t fit in that box. Chrysalis examines the illusions built into our search for online connection and our idolisation of strangers simply because we feel intimate with them... The resulting tone is one of isolation and introspection, as though humanity were being viewed from afar - evocative of the psychological loneliness that is the extreme end of self-care * Literary Review * Do you see the world as a difficult and stifling place? What do you make of enigmatic Nicola? I urge you to read Anne Metcalfe's debut novel with these questions in mind. The effect of the novel's triptych form feels like looking at the protagonist through the lens of a kaleidoscope, each segment dazzling, but ultimately fractured, leaving compelling gaps in our perception of who she is * Electric Lit *

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Three distinct parts comprise the book, all are named characters: Elliot, Bella and Susie. The parts all stand alone, and while all revolve around the same figure, “she” is never named, and is always a shadowy and unknowable figure. She also defines the three viewpoints being expressed. It’s an interesting way to draw in the reader to feel the pulse of the book. Her artist mother Bella describes her relationship to the sometimes fearful and volatile child she sought to soothe, and her former colleague Susie bears witness to the protagonist’s toxic relationship with a man she met at work before she quits her job (and boyfriend) and embarks on her mysterious metamorphosis. But to what end? This was a very strong debut novel. The success of the novel hinges on the reader engaging with the mysterious aspects of the central character; there’s no plot as such, and we’re told up front about the influencer she becomes, and so the only thing really driving the narrative is the details we’re given gradually about her past and the way she acts. This might sound like a hard sell, but Metcalfe really pulls it off - the characters are believable, their interactions are engaging and you really do find yourself caring about the little moments of intrigue. The central character’s behaviour is compellingly odd, and the sinister undercurrent running through the novel from the start is really effective - leaving you with the sense that, though you can’t entirely identify just what has happened, something dark is going on.