Sometimes when you give readers loads of details, I feel like you give them a to-do list of things to imagine, whereas if you give them two details, their minds will fill in the rest. And they will feel more invested because of that, because they have co-created it with you.” Living online and offline

They all watch as she strengthens her body and mind and begins to post viral videos that advocate for her viewers to take drastic measures to acquire true self-sufficiency. 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.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. Her mother gives us a history of how she was growing up, her personality and the kind of daughter she was. I really enjoyed the mother’s perspective because I loved the mother-daughter theme that was explored. 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. Internet is performative. Have to be seen to say the right thing. Difficult to show solidarity with someone different.

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. 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? Metcalfe describes through three perspectives the transformation of a woman who has been traumatized. We meet her when she joins the first narrator's gym, and she is so sure of herself that he can't help but to be transfixed. She decides to bulk rather than slim down in an effort to take up space. We later get the perspective of her mother, who describes to us her manner of being as a young child through young adulthood. Finally, we see who she is through a work friend and flatmate, who describes the change before her abusive relationship and after.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. 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. One for all the contemporary fiction lovers, Chrysalis is the story of an unnamed woman, whose actions blur the lines between self care and narcissism. It takes controlling the body and mind to a whole new level and the transformation of one woman, as well as her influence on others throughout her journey. In the end, it felt as though we missed out on the most interesting aspects of the character's transformation - becoming a supposed cult leader. The cult she builds is only ever vaguely alluded to, and it's unclear how this would have happened or if it actually happened at all. So much of the story existed in a seemingly liminal space, and it seems to be the authors' intent despite how much it left me wanting. Deliciously timely.... 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 *

WOW. I just devoured this. What a wonderful, painful, funny novel... it's so beautiful and cruel, and summed up just perfectly by the ending - a flawless final sentence, one of the best I've ever read, it absolutely gave me chills' - Avni DoshiJA: What the book brings up is the idea of curation. The protagonist lives in a run-down cottage but she’s able to shape it through screens into a mysterious garden and exert influence from that portrayal. Those perceptions she’s created shape the lives of real people living real lives.

Chrysalis is a thrilling look at how we spin silk around ourselves by watching the world on our screens.”— The New York Times Book ReviewPerceptive.... [An] intriguing exercise in narrative.... Metcalfe clearly has her finger on the pulse of internet culture and its habitués * Publishers Weekly * 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 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.