Private Altars

by Katherine Mosby

In the 1920s, a clash of cultures when a sophisticated New York bride arrives in a provincial town in West Virginia. The woman's problems multiply when her husband leaves her and she must face the town's hostility, alone with two children. A first novel.

Genres: Fiction, The United States Of America, Contemporary, Southern

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 3, 1995

Reviews

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Private Altars is like a poem. The first few pages were a little slow for me, but once I became acquainted with the main character, Vienna Daniels, I fell hard for the book.

[Elliot Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katherine Mosby is a poet. The plot is interesting enough, but her prose is on another level. Every other paragraph is filled with lines lyrical, profound, and concise. I was moved and impressed.

[Shana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I brought this book along on a cross-country flight, stupidly failing to bring a back-up read. The first and last quarter of this book tells the story of tragic story of displaced Northerner Vienna Daniels from the perspective of a boy who lives on a neighboring farm in West Virginia. He is fascinated by Vienna and her precocious children, who occasionally serve as narrators as well. I find adult books written from the point of view of children often tough to manage unless there are interesting plot developments or a realistic child voice. Unfortunately, the first 100 pages or so were, frankly, boring. Neither the story nor the writing was sufficiently engaging, which is a shame as the book does get better. Mosby is no Aimee Bender or Emma Donoghue, sadly. And Vienna, the main character, appears rarely during the first part of the book. We learn very little about her except that she is "crazy," and seems miserable and isolated. I feel like this part of the book could have been at least 50 pages shorter.

Around page 120, the story flashes back to Vienna's arrival in West Virginia and tells the story of her life chronologically. Honestly, if I hadn't been stuck on a plane with nothing else to read I would have given up early on. But I'm glad I didn't, as the main part of the story was fascinating, with witty dialogue and lots of social commentary on the South, race, gender roles and small town life. The earlier one-dimensional presentation of Vienna actually provides a nice counterpoint to this part of the book. And despite the foreshadowing of a unhappy Vienna in the future, it's easy to get sucked into the story and fall in love with the very memorable and complex characters. But ultimately, I found the story unnecessarily tragic and depressing with little to show for it, kind of like Vienna's life. The ending was particularly maddening, abruptly failing to tie off any of the many subplots and leaving me disappointed and angry at myself for bothering to read this book. I should also mention that while the author is a poet, I found her strength to lie in dialogue, not description. I didn't find her style particularly compelling or achingly beautiful. If I had, I would have forgiven her the cruel plot and the paternalistic depiction of people of color. If you like Southern Gothics, then you'll probably like this. Not my cup of tea.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

eh. the blurb on the back makes it sound like it's going to be about a northeastern intellectual woman come to a small southern town that resents her difference, but the book mostly isn't from her point of view at all, and she early on pretty much just gives up battling the town and withdraws into her own little world. she has two children and the focus shifts to them. the embattled outsiders, though, aren't really that appealing. they're withdrawn even from the reader. there's a little bit of interest in racial justice, but that never becomes a focus. (this is the 30s/40's). the author doesn't seem to like her characters either, judging from the tragedies she puts them through. the town seems ignorant and provincial and small-minded, but the daniels seem aloof and insulated. there's some men in love with vienna and a boy in love with willa, her daughter, who is mostly annoying and mean-spirited. there's never any resolution, none of it works out and much of it goes horribly wrong. it's a bit meandering. the writing was good, there are some good images and symbols, it wasn't a chore to read.

[Elsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quand un vent de liberté souffle sur le Sud.

Vienne, jeune femme et bel esprit, quitte le Nord pour rejoindre le domaine familial de son mari dans le Sud des États-Unis. C'est alors une rencontre mitigée entre les habitants bourrus du petit village et la jeune femme, libre et fantasque. Abandonnée avec ses deux enfants, elle construit autour d'elle un monde de belles paroles, de songes, de tolérance, bien en avance sur son temps. On suit avec plaisir les jeux des enfants, leur personnalité naïve et curieuse, cette palette de jolis personnages. L'auteur distille subtilement les parfums et les humeurs, rappelant parfois les tourments du Sud sous la plume de Faulkner. C'est aussi un roman ouvert à la nature, à la découverte, on sent le souffle chaud dans l'herbe sèche, les bois et taillis propices à dissimuler les personnages.

Malgré certaines maladresses (le point de vue de départ du jeune Addison qui ne revient qu'à la fin), on lit avec plaisir ce roman, comme une boisson chaude au coin du feu. J'ai d'ailleurs eu un peu de mal à sortir du livre dans les dernières pages.

[Cathi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give it 4 stars but I didn't like the ending.

[Lindsey Deitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

GORGEOUS writing

[Rebekkila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am one of those readers who can finish a book and pick up the next one and start it a minute later; not so with this book, I couldn't read anything else for the rest of the night.
This is the story 0f Vienna, a well traveled New York socialite, who in 1923 marries a man from a small town in West Virginia. She arrives in town with 4 trucks of books which totals more than all the other books in town put together. This and her big city ways causes the town to turn against her. And a small town shunning is no joke. Vienna is not perfect, she is ruled by her emotions and can be childish at times. But she tries to do what's right, she tries to treat people with respect, and she is determined to last it out in her husband's home.
It has been four or five years since I cried at the end of a book. Maybe it had something to do with the Packers down twenty-some points to the Giants (I was reading during the commercial breaks). This is probably my favorite book that I have read this year.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. Wonderfully written, unusual story. Fabulous!

[Caitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the BEST books I have EVER read!

[Shelly Kiker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my top 5 most favorite books. I have read it many times.

[Bie Peeters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Private altars - Sanctuaires ardents en français.
L'écriture est poétique, littéraire avec un L. La traduction est excellente et mérite être mentionnée car la tâche ne devait pas être aisée.
Au début, la lecture n'est pas facile et l'histoire m'a semblé lente, parfois un peu ennuyeuse. Mais ce n'était qu'une impression car cette lenteur vous amène crescendo vers une fin surprenante, tragique et triste. Vienna et ses enfants ne sont pas comme les autres, et dénotent dans cette petite ville en Virginie, dans ce Sud qui n'a pas encore digéré la guerre de sécession. On n'apprend qu'à la fin du livre en quelle époque se situe l'histoire, mais l'on peut le deviner par le comportement des habitants de Winsville. Vienna est une femme et mère majestueuse, intègre, elle reste fidèle à son moi intérieur. Willa, sa fille, est sauvage et rebelle. Et Elliott, le petit garçon si savant, si généreux, est trop pur pour ce monde. Tous les trois semblent s'être trompés de monde, d'époque, et l'on ne peut que les admirer pour assumer cette différence. L'amour de la nature, et en particulier des arbres, traverse comme un hymne le récit. C'est un beau livre, que je recommande.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far one of the most chilling and beautiful novels I have ever read. The story follows Vienna Daniels, a mother of two. Throughout the novel, different characters possess their own story that shares a common theme; Vienna. Katherine Mosby writes in a free-flowing, poetic style that captivates readers who enjoy intelligent banter. The sheer intellect of the author is clear in the way that she discusses many a philosophy. This heart-wrenching novel is exceedingly powerful, guaranteed to make you cry.

[Kevin Keller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this free on the street. The hero is a proto-Rory Gilmore. She loves to read; she corrects other people’s pronunciation; she’s amazing but other people cannot appreciate her. The book is very cruel to everyone except the protagonist family and their acolytes.

Hard not to read this as precursor to 2016 election. I think the author wrote Vienna to be a tragic but relatable hero. But she (and the book) mainly come across as condescending. The writing is not “lyrical”! It is overwrought and annoying.

[Wynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found in a used bookstore and worth reading. Novel was published in 1995 and the South vs the North theme was popular. Writer is a poet and the prose was lyrical. But be warned it is SAD. Time for a more cheerful read.

[Audrey Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book. A real celebration of the English language. Absolutely stunning prose.

[Emily Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Southern Gothic characters in a very unique setting.

[Andrea Stoeckel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely compelling story. I kept watching it unfold and truly wondered where it was going

[Diann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written in a descriptive sense, but overall the plot didn't really hang together entirely enough for me.

[Barbara]

Arlene's

[Silver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful and engaging book which offers so much to the reader. Once I started reading it, it was one of those books that I did not want to put down. Some of the prose is truly poetic and wonderful, and there is not a dull moment within the story.

It is easy to read and filled with engaging characters which come into vivid life. It is a story which is charming, at moments even made me laugh out loud, as well as at times heartbreaking.

A story about the power of love, without actually being truly a "love story" as well as the power of the human spirit.

It takes place around the time of the depression, and focuses upon a rather unconventional woman, after making an unfortunate marriage moves to her husbands farm in West Virgina, where she refuses to meat with the social conventions becoming ostracised and the subject of gossip within the town which causes tension within her marriage.

In addition she has two children Willa and Elliot who are unforgettable within their own eccentricities and adventures. Isolated in part because of their mother, but as well their own personalities drive them to have their own unique interests.

Their family becomes a source of almost mystic fascination for the rest of the town as they struggle through their own personal hardships, and at times discover somethings which overcome all differences and can bridge the gaps that drove them apart from each other.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written first novel that endeared the characters in my heart and engaged me in their lives. I bought this at a library book sale and had made a few attempts at reading it, but I find sometimes a novel needs to wait to be read at the right time. When I picked it up this time I got far enough in to intrigue me to continue. Although I enjoyed the middle of the novel the most which dealt with the history of the family and how their lives arrived in the present story, the whole novel kept me turning pages. It was only the beginning, which is deceptively woven around the children's first encounters and impressions, that needed a little time to draw me in to the rich story unfolding. The lovely writing in itself told me that this would be a good read. If anything could be improved it was the length and complexity of some of the sentences peppered throughout the novel. I agree with other reviews in that the publisher should have reigned in the author in terms of some of the description, which while poetic and beautiful, sometimes became distracting as I had to re-read certain passages to get the long winded meaning. However, knowing the author is originally a poet and this being her first novel I understand her writing style and ultimately enjoyed her writing immensely.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jill just gave me back this book. Apparently it was one I bought from a library sale, and she borrowed it, although it didn't even look at all familiar to me. I didn't have anything waiting in the wings, so I picked it up. A few things here and there felt familiar as I read. I had no idea what was going to happen in the book, but I started to recognize my own underlining style, so I can only conclude that I had read it before at some point. A sad commentary on my retention. Good grief.

The good news is that I really liked it. The main character is a young, educated woman who moves to a small town after she marries. Neither Vienna nor the townspeople can understand or relate to each other, and she ostracizes herself, creating an almost mythic curiosity about her home and her family. The town doctor tells her husband, who is clearly disappointed with the way things have turned out, "She's not crazy, she's educated."

She manages to tutor her children at home for many years before a truant officer forces them to school, and as a result of their education, they are faced with similar peer problems to those of their mother.

While the characters and the story itself are compelling, the language is what most pleased me. Mosby's writing is precise and beautiful, perhaps a reflection on her career as a poet. Recommended for wordsmiths and fans of Southern Gothic fiction.

[Roula Yasin · Rating 4 out of 5]

un très beau portrait de femme, une femme éprise de liberté, une intellectuelle, une grande lectrice, une "originale" qui repeint la grange en lapis-lazuli, qui donne des friandises à son pur-sang sans jamais le monter... Une anticonformiste qui se moque éperdument des convenances et du qu'en-dira-t-on, qui, très vite, après seulement quelques rencontres avec les femmes des notables de la petite ville, se fait haïr de tous ces bourgeois engoncés, ce qui d'ailleurs l'indiffère totalement. Et l'hostilité des gens du cru ne vient pas à bout de ses excentricités : elle parle aux arbres, rédige une épopée et élève ses enfants comme bon lui semble, en quasi-liberté... Au fil des années, les ragots vont se multiplier, mais aussi les gestes d'hostilité envers Vienna et ses enfants, jusqu'au drame, poignant et saisissant.
Un roman délicatement féministe et une ode magnifique à la singularité, à la tolérance et à la liberté.
véritable choc des cultures, entre la New-Yorkaise cultivée à l’esprit ouvert et les habitants de Winsville plutôt fermés et ignorants.

[Jennifer Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this. The language is beautiful and precise, the setting is carefully drawn, and the characters have such strong and striking personalities that you want to find out what happens to them. The ending was disconcertingly abrupt, but otherwise this was a great book.

Vienna Daniels is a highly-educated, free-spirited New Yorker whose husband brings her to Winsville, a small West Virginia town, in the 1920s. Vienna feels out of place among her conventional neighbors, but her house and her children keep her anchored to the town even after her husband leaves her. The family happily ignores the outside world until the children, Willa and Elliot, are forced to go to school. The conflict between the Daniels family and the citizens of Winsville ultimately leads to a series of tragic events.

[Lisa Ahronian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. I almost bit off more than I could chew with this book. In the beginning I had difficulty adjusting to the the language Katherine Mosby uses. It's extremely descriptive with a lot of metaphores...it took some getting used to. I struggle with books I need to read very slowly simply because I have to keep a dictionary nearby to look up definitions. But as I continued to read and became more accustomed to the ebb and flow of her writing style, I became caught up in the story and cared deeply for the characters. I haven't cried with a book for a long time, but this one made me tear up several times. Very emotional. And I found it a sad depiction of how badly people can treat each other.

[Ikebukuro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un magnifique portrait de femme, forte et fragile à la fois qui nous prend aux tripes et nous bouleverse. Le récit poignant du droit à la différence à travers les yeux des enfants. L'auteur nous transporte dans l'Amérique profonde avec son étroitesse d'esprit, ses préjugés, son intolérance face à la différence, on retrouve ce qui fait le charme de ces écrivains du Sud comme Pat Conroy. Vienna est belle, libre, elle n'est pas du genre à faire des concessions et ne s'intègre pas dans cette petite ville où le cercle des dames patronesses fait la pluie et le beau temps. Une écriture magnifique au service d'un texte particulièrement émouvant sur le droit de vivre sa vie sans subir l'opprobre des gens "bien pensants". Un hymne à la liberté poétique et envoûtant.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book years ago. While I liked it, I wasn't in love with the book and didn't really find myself attached to the characters. What I do remember is loving the storyline. I think the characters could have been developed a bit more in-depth.

[J.S. Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

She's clearly a good writer. Some of the images were lovely. Her editor probably should have reined her in a bit though. Some sentences, while artfully written, didn't quite make sense to me. My main problem was the novel meandered too much. Ultimately I couldn't stay invested.

[Laurie Furness · Rating 2 out of 5]

way weird!!!!!! extreme detail until the last 20 pages of the book and it leaves you hanging