Lu Ann Staheli

Carol Lynch Williams has been known and loved in both the Utah writing community and among readers across the nation since her first book, Kelly and Me, was released in 1995. A multiple-time winner of the Utah Arts Council Original Writing Competition, Nebraska's Golden Sower Award, and this year's PEN/Phyllis Naylor Award, Carol has just hit the big-time with her new book, The Chosen One, making last week's New York Times Editor's Choice list.

The Chosen One is the story of a 13-year-old girl, Kyra, who has been raised in a polygamist community her whole life, and has just been told by the prophet that she will marry her 60-year-old uncle. Because of her secret visits to the county bookmobile, Kyra knows a little about the outside world and desperately wants to make her own choices in life. Her pleas to her father and the prophet himself go unheeded, so Kyra is faced with choices--does she stay and do as she is told, or does she run away from the only life she has ever known?

Although the novel appears to be ripped from the headlines of the Texas raid on a polygamist community, Carol says, "The book was purchased by St. Martin's Press two days before the incident in Texas. Just two days." But when it comes to stirring interest in the book, the timing couldn't have been better.

"I wrote this story because I wanted people to know that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not polygamists," Carol says. "Upstanding Latter-day Saints do not have more than one spouse. People still think weird things about our religion as a whole."

And she found that she herself didn't know the polygamist community like she thought she did. "Characters in books have a way of leading the tale," she continues. "As soon as I penned the first line I realized every thought I had before this book would have to be thrown out. I realized that in every community--no matter what kind--religious or not--there can be good, loving people. And people who will try to seize control of others. It doesn't matter who, what, or where. You see it around the world--and as close as next door. People act the way they are going to--whether they blame God for their choices--or themselves--or their victims."

Although Carol does know a young man who came from a polygamist community, she says he "remained pretty tight-lipped" at first. She had just begun working on the idea of this book when she first met him, but now he speaks more openly with her about his experiences. "He's a great person--kind, loving, and generous." Like Carol's friend, her character, Kyra, will likely miss her family "for a long time. Forever, actually," Carol says.

What does she want her reader to remember about Kyra's story? "I want people to remember my character and think she was real. I want my readers to be compassionate to what they don't understand. I hope they would be willing to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. I hope they have questions; that they look at the world in a new way, that they love Kyra and her heart. Gosh, I hope I can do those things." As do we all.

Carol's future projects include a book due next summer from Paula Wiseman Books titled Glimpse, and another title coming from St. Martin's Press tentatively called Lost in Peace.

If you'd like to read more of the interview with Carol Lynch Williams, please visit www.luannsbookreview.blogspot.com.

Lu Ann Brobst Staheli is a Christa McAulliffe Fellow, 2008 Best of State Educator K-12, and an author. Her book, When Hearts Conjoin: The True Story of the Herrin Twins is available at www.utahtwins.com.