Iola Chrysalis

Iola Chrysalis, a mystery-comedy with a dollop of romance, details a young woman's journey into wisdom, not merely acquiring knowledge, but evaluating the sources of knowledge. She journeys from a small Wisconsin village to a Milwaukee university acquiring a boy friend who would be a priest if she fails to persuade him to renounce celibacy. The people she meets characterize the various ways people come to believe something, an authoritarian father who believes the Book, a mystic homicidal minister who has a direct line to God, a rational professor who is logical, a pragmatic bishop who focuses only on the bottom line, a skeptical editor who has heard it before. All of them influence the heroine, but ultimately she doubts each exclusive way of knowing and becomes a true skeptic, always doubting but ultimately accepting. She leaves the narrow confines of her rural life but returns to it to gain the unique perspective of her beloved villagers in her nationally read syndicated column.