It is about controlling the body and the mind, about the place of the individual within society and what is means when someone choses to leave society behind. 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.

A strange story about an unnamed woman undergoing a metamorphosis of sorts, observed by three different people, all once important people in this woman’s life. This daring novel asks if it is possible for a woman to have agency over her body while remaining part of society, and then offers its own explosive answer. Even at a young age, Bella, an artist herself, detects Nicola possesses a unique capacity to effect self change. What she describes would not be recognised by the unnamed protagonist of Anna Metcalfe’s Chrysalis , who takes up bodybuilding as a means of asserting control. How one grows and evolves over the years, becoming comfortable in their own skin and finding their way in this strange world.

We see through the eyes of three different characters but the authorial perspective is always there. We know so much about the woman at the centre of this story, from her childhood to her relationships to her friendships - yet we don't even know her name. Susie watches the woman develop her autonomy and train herself to be as still as possible through meditation. 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.

They go to work in big glass buildings and watch the doors to their offices open and close while they remain seated the whole time. More than once it stopped me in my tracks with its elegant, understated, and startlingly poignant turns of phrase. Photograph: Alice Zoo View image in fullscreen Anna Metcalfe’s nameless protagonist becomes ‘a cult figure who embraces solitude’. This novel is very different to some that I have read recently it deeply looks into the elements of a persons character and how they develop . Thank you Netgalley and Granta for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.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. With shades of Han Kang, Catherine Lacey, and Gwendoline Riley, Metcalfe's writing is both dissecting and effortless; I savored every last brilliant sentence.