Over the course of the novel it becomes clear that the woman is preparing for the ‘the next phase’ of her life where she will leave those she knew behind Character in flux A man who sees the woman in the gym and get a front seat view into how she transforms her body. He sees her on her first day in the gym and how she transforms both in the gym and in personal setting… because they start dating. Did I like this style? I’m not sure. This is a difficult book to distil, and I don’t know that I have actually understood its meaning or taken away its essence. I tried to grasp some philosophy but its like trying to cradle sand in your hands. 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.

She is noticed by Elliot as he trains in in the gym. He sees her dedication to building her body and taking up space, and he is drawn to her strength. She is observed by her mother, as she grows from a taciturn, tremulous child into a determined and distant woman, who severs all familial ties. She is watched by her former colleague Susie, who offers her sanctuary and support as she leaves her partner and rebuilds her life, transforming her body and reinventing herself online. Each of these three witnesses desires closeness. Each is left with only the husk of the person they thought they knew, 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.

Depending on her mood, she could move differently. She could make words sound different in her mouth. She'd tell me about her plans – which friends she was seeing, what time she'd be home – and though the parts of her life were familiar, I'd have the feeling of talking to a stranger.” Elliot is a freelancer and his “big jobs” define him, but the passages describing his work habits make no direct reference to what he does. Susie’s hinterland is also only glimpsed, and through the book we uncover much about why the protagonist becomes an influencer, but little sense of how. In a novel concerned with curated displays of experience, this wonky, haphazard cleansing of context works. It heightens the forcefield around its subject, giving her that ultrafiltered, hyperreal plausibility that is influencer capital. I felt that I could see her large stilled form, the tree stirring behind her in her overgrown garden, and could understand why a person might follow her – the “cool and pleasant feeling” that she can induce. The absence of context also feeds the feeling that something is seriously amiss. “Cut yourself off,” she urges her followers. “Do you really need the people in your life, or do they need you?” She is watched by Elliot as he trains in the gym. He notices her dedication to building her body and taking up space, and he is drawn to her strength. She is observed by her mother, as she grows from a taciturn, tremulous child into a determined and distant woman, who severs all familial ties. She is observed by her former colleague Susie, who offers her sanctuary and support as she leaves her partner and her job and rebuilds her life, transforms her body, and reinvents herself online. I thought a lot about the necessity of performing some sort of victimhood in the face of trauma [in] a way that makes their trauma legible to others.

AM: Completely. I suppose it’s embedded in the way we often talk about transformation, especially in the world of self-help. There’s a lot of discussion around how you can transform yourself, as if you exist completely in a vacuum. It would be more helpful for everyone who’s talking about transforming themselves to talk together about transforming things that might benefit everybody, transforming the social sphere. But there’s way more rhetoric about social transformation and taking control of the things you can control, that only affect you. It does suggest that we are all isolated dots that never really see each other or that you can, in some way, control everything for yourself and everything that affects you in your life. It’s just not true. Her resilience becomes performative as she posts videos and launches a career as a cult figure who embraces solitude As her followers grow, she seems to offer those who watch her online a chance to leave their troubled, messy lives and relationships behind and pursue a more solitary and more perfect existence, as she has. But is this a path to wellness or narcissism? How well do you really know the people you love? What do they feel able to show you, and what do they feel compelled to hide? Is the version of a person you see, the real them, or are you projecting and just seeing what you wish to see?

Anna Metcalfe

Anna Metcalfe’s Chrysalis deliberately reworks aspects of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian. Like Kang’s novel it’s divided into three parts in which the same, nameless woman is viewed from different angles. Metcalfe touches on concerns that frequently surface in discussions of strands in contemporary western society: from the role of social media influencers and fandom to the wellness and self-sufficiency industries through to transactional relationships, narcissism and voyeurism. Each of her narrators is witness to an aspect of the nameless woman’s transformation from floundering, and possibly traumatised, to seemingly-invulnerable colossus. Two of these three are people who’ve met the woman as an adult, Elliot with whom she has a brief sexual relationship and Susie her former work colleague, the third is her mother Bella.

JA: There are so many systems that hold us all. It reminds me of when you were talking about buying a new dress; like do we really have to transform our whole selves? It feels like you’re chasing this other version of yourself that never really actually exists, but for a brief period of time you can pretend like if you do this one thing, you will. There’s a measure of fleeting joy to be found in that. Internet is performative. Have to be seen to say the right thing. Difficult to show solidarity with someone different. I also thought a lot about the necessity of performing some sort of victimhood in the face of trauma in that it is almost required, I think, that someone might appear damaged or might perform their victimhood in a way that makes their trauma legible to others. Here, we have a protagonist who has experienced trauma, but is refusing to perform any kind of victimhood. She only really offers us tiny moments where she’s willing to exhibit vulnerability.

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But at the same time, this book isn't really about the woman at all: Instead, it becomes about three people in her orbit, who are drawn to her and find a purpose in her presence. There's Elliot, who watches her transformation from the very beginning at the gym they both attend; her mother, Bella, who struggled to understand her daughter when she was young and can now only watch from a distance as she blossoms; and Susie, a coworker whose empty apartment and lonely existence are reinvigorated when the woman moves in with her. The book is told in three parts from their first-person points-of-view, as Anna Metcalfe explores themes of isolation and loneliness, reinvention, desperation and obsession, and the complex ramifications of trauma. The woman at the centre of the novel’s hard to pin down, at once fearful and fearless. As she assumes control of her body, her increasing physical power is accompanied by an equally powerful personal philosophy – or maybe that’s an impression that’s equally dependent on the fantasies of others. But for many, her desire for strength and stillness, almost tree-like, appears to represent the perfecting of life as art. A stance that offers up a vision of an organic self that clearly appeals to the growing band of followers drawn to her online presence. Many of whom seem to be seeking a blueprint for how to live. For the woman part of this process of change, and later promotion of solitude, may be founded in childhood trauma and then her experiences while living with an abusive man. Interestingly this element of her journey is the least developed perhaps because it offers a solution that’s too clearcut, a form of narrative closure Metcalfe’s clearly not prepared to entertain. Overall, I thought this was a well-crafted, full-length debut, and although it could be curiously static, it was sufficiently intelligent and intriguing to hold my attention.

In the end, our main character decides to cut out all relationships and focuses on not just slow living but slow moving; she is able to hold a yoga pose for hours on end. Through her dedication and YouTube videos, she amasses a small cult following who follows her lead and rejects society--perhaps, in a way, the only way a woman can be truly safe in this world? Chrysalis might qualify as the most creative debut novel written in the past several years. The reason is simple: unlike novels like Sara Pascoe's Weirdo or Sheena Patel's I'm a Fan, Anna Metcalfe doesn't employ the usual format of having her thirty-something female protagonist tell her own story; instead, the young British author uses a trio of people in her protagonist's life to do the telling, a technique that's refreshing and very effective. Chrysalis is a savvy exploration of one woman's desire to inspire others, and how self-presentation can tip into obsession... * Observer * 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.

Advance Praise

Over the course of the novel it becomes clear that the woman is preparing for “the next phase” of her life where she will leave those who knew her behind, in favour of something else. The abandoned narrators watch the content that she creates and posts online: she is a wellness influencer of a sort and her strange videos are devoted to strength and stillness. “Variously all three narrators describe her as being made out of stone or carved from something, so it’s as if she becomes made of some natural material rather than a person. Something that’s more durable or more permanent than a person.” We never get the woman's own perspective - I can see why the author approached the narrative in this way but it did frustrate me as a reader at times. This is a hard novel to describe or summarise, and it left me feeling unsettled on finishing... although not necessarily in a bad way. 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. JA: I think that’s the case in all of our lives. We want control over the things we think we can control but if we go too far, it’s not healthy. We start with good intentions.