Chrysalis

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The idea of it gave me a queasy feeling—a tingle that ran through my arms and made the weights drop down with a crash. By far the strongest was the second narrator, the protagonist's mother, as the third narrator hardly appeared to have any point of view at all.

How one grows and evolves over the years, becoming comfortable in their own skin and finding their way in this strange world. Chrysalis a story about solitude and selfhood, and about the blurred line between self-care and narcissism. This story is a bit of an odd one - the central plot follows an unnamed woman who becomes an online wellness cult leader and is told through the perspectives of three outsiders, which is an interesting conceit as, by nature, all three of the narrators paint incomplete and unreliable pictures of the protagonist. A masterclass in character, Chrysalis is an unsettling and brilliant portrait - not just of a woman in transformation or of those who fall into her orbit, but also of a world defined simultaneously by our isolation and by our longing to connect. I also could have done without a lot of the superfluous details (especially from the first narrator) - I skimmed over a lot of mundane text.We learn of our unnamed main character through Susie, a former colleague who offers her a home and a sanctuary. While the text suffers from some flaws, especially the transparent construction of the plot, it's also an absorbing and smart read and blossoms in its ambivalence.

It is the story of an influencer, never named, who preaches to her loyal followers about the benefits of solitude, selfishness, and putting yourself first. I’m not quite sure how I feel about this book- it was strange and engrossing but also left me feeling confused.of a woman from who she was onto who she wants to be through sheer strength and the building of that strength of body and mind. She’s particularly adept at dealing with ambiguities, in each of the interactions with her unnamed woman it’s difficult to discern whether these are relationships grounded in mutual or one-sided exploitation or based on fantasy and projection borne out of each individual’s unfulfilled desires – the narrators’ recollections are often far more revealing of the observers than the observed. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. It’s trying really hard to be a book that makes you think but in the course it doesn’t actually say anything at all.

We see through the eyes of three different characters but the authorial perspective is always there.Photograph: Alice Zoo View image in fullscreen Anna Metcalfe’s nameless protagonist becomes ‘a cult figure who embraces solitude’. I would have liked there to be some narration from her perspective, but I understand why that was not included - it makes perfect sense within the themes of the book. No flesh and blood contact with other people, thank you; rather, admire me on my webpage - and send along your money. 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. We don’t have to go back to primal or very nomadic ways but it’s okay for adults at a certain point to give or take how much they want to interact with society.

It's a clever, uncomfortable, modern novel that asks many questions of us and of how we view fellow humans as "content" to consume - the commodification of authenticity, the lure of celebrity. Postmodern speed and complexity are juxtaposed with slowness and simplicity, so ideas that are valued by the mindfulness movement, but which, at least in this story, aren't the solution either. I never used to pick up on that kind of stuff but, since I started taking care of myself, I’ve become more sensitive to all kinds of things. Unputdownable, ice-cool, and wittily contemporary, Chrysalis announces Anna Metcalfe as a distinctive and daring fresh literary voice. It’s about the different forms of isolation and the effects that come from it, including loneliness, solitude and sometimes, independence.Finally, we see who she is through a work friend and flatmate, who describes the change before her abusive relationship and after. I really wasn’t expecting to love Chrysalis as much as I did, and will be recommending to all the lovers of modern fiction - I absolutely adored the writing and completely gelled with the flow!