An unnerving, compelling and utterly contemporary debut novel about one woman's metamorphosis into an online phenomenon, from one of Granta magazine's Best of Young British Novelists

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. Chrysalis is a story about solitude and selfhood, and about the blurred line between self-care and narcissism. It is about controlling the body and the mind, about the place of the individual within society and what it means when someone chooses to leave society behind. It is a strikingly contemporary story about the search for answers and those we trust to give them to us.

"This is a very well-written novel that is shrewdly revealing about the alluring and insidious nature of contemporary consumer culture. It fully justifies Anna Metcalfe's inclusion on Granta's recent Best of Young British Novelists list" - TLS

"Chrysalis is a savvy exploration of one woman's desire to inspire others, and how self-presentation can tip into obsession..." - Observer

"Strikingly original... explores the dark side of influencer culture and probes questions of solitude, perception and self-invention... a triumph of observation and control" - Bookseller

"[An] eerily cool debut... in its acute examination of voyeurism, image and the deceptive nature of connection, [it] feels tailor-made for the age of the internet" - Daily Mail

"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

"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

"Taking on questions of femininity and expectation, as well as social media and its ability to make a cult leader of anyone, Chrysalis raises as many questions as it answers about our society and our place within it" - Lit Hub

"It's all in the telling, which is gripping and subtle. Small pieces of information are drip fed to the reader, each moment viewed and reviewed across the different narratives. [Chrysalis] feels fizzy, with all these pops of observation on the move..." - Guardian

"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

"A powerful, eerie debut novel that investigates stillness and selfishness" - Kirkus Reviews

"Perceptive.... [An] intriguing exercise in narrative.... Metcalfe clearly has her finger on the pulse of internet culture and its habitués" - Publishers Weekly

"Chrysalis is a thrilling look at how we spin silk around ourselves by watching the world on our screens. We are the gaping entomologist; we are the pupa, always a little stuck" - New York Times

"Managing the intimacy of the mother-daughter relationship and coming to terms with how it went wrong makes for compelling material" - The Times

"The characters are always intriguing" - New Statesman