"Mosby, who is also a poet, writes equally well when she is describing the physical world...but whether providing social commentary or lyrical description, Mosby is committed, above all, to the sentence... exploiting the richness and elasticity of the sentence and the authorial presence such manipulation displays. In Private Altars, Mosby appropriates and reworks an almost ninteenth-century form, capacious to allow for both a poetic style and an absorbing narrative. … Mosby has combined the stylistic conventions of Wharton and James with the trappings of the Southern gothic...together they have produced a curiously vital hybrid."
----The New Yorker

"I found myself enthralled... It is a book that no one who loves language should let slip by... Mosby has a true storyteller's voice."
----Geoffrey Stokes, Boston Globe

"Private Altars is a brillant debut by an obviously gifted writer."
----The Richmond Times Dispatch

"The reader is not likely to find a better novel this year."
----Dallas Morning News

"The lush tapistry of Mosby's erudite yet very human perceptions is a pleasure to read."
----Margaret Skinner, The Commercial Appeal

"Private Altars is distinguished by apt metaphors, imaginative perceptions and precise language... This is prose of a high order, and Mosby can reach these heights consistently, creating a density of language that borders on being an extended prose poem."
----Los Angeles Times

"When the line between poetry and prose becomes blurred, words turn into visions, and beauty is born. And so it is with poet Katherine Mosby's first novel, Private Altars. Mosby shares Bronte's sense of tragic romanticism, creating a place and a people rich in history and texture. The author's beautiful prose begs to be read aloud, and certain paragraphs ought to be reread for sheer pleasure. Private Altars confirms that the quiet unfolding of a story filled with love, loss and strength can still captivate."
----L.A. Village View

"By no definition is this simply a typical Southern Gothic novel. In beautiful prose, with tragedy and wit, its many layers create an astoundingly rich depth. Mosby, the author, is a poet who here writes a lyrical first novel...that will imprint on the reader's memory."
----Sunday Oklahoman

"This [is] a stunning first novel... Mosby has produced a riveting novel that will linger in your mind--and your heart."
----Indianapolis Star

"As events unfold and the shape of a classic tragedy emerges, Mosby, who has a profound sense of beauty in both nature and art, treats her rapt readers to hilarious dialogue and exquisitely nuanced psychology, laughter and tears."
----Booklist

"Mosby tells her story about the fateful consequences of being different with grace and perception... Private Altars is an evocative, memorable novel."
----Orlando Sentinel

"Quiet but penetrating... Private Altars , hauntingly poetic in language, eloquently reminds us that we all share a common bond."
----Southern Living

"If all authors could boast of comparisons to Harper Lee and Truman Capote after their debut novel, perhaps we'd have more books like Private Altars to enjoy. Such lavish praises can be relished by Katherine Mosby, who has definitely earned such distinct honors with her first novel... a timeless tale, beautifully written and guided by true-to-life characters."
----The Daily Mississippian

"As with all things original, Katherine Mosby's Private Altars takes a little getting used to but the effort is richly rewarded. The novel is full of lush, poetic imagery."
----The Seattle Times

"Mosby, a poet herself, writes with fluid grace..."
----People

"Mosby braids sentences together with the cadence of verse and the grace of a waltz. The effect is a lyrical melody created by using ordinary words to gain extraordinary results. Mosby breaks our heart, makes us laugh, and raises our righteous indignation-- all in the space of a page. Mosby's greatest gifts are her insightful humor and vivid characters {that} live even after we've reluctantly turned the last page."
----The Florida Times Union

"Mosby validates the wisdom of following one's inner voice. She does so with prose like meringue: light and sweet, sturdy despite the remarkably few ingredients that constitute its peaks and dips. Private Altars is a good and tender story. Also, it is a striking, almost magical example of the wonderful places well-matched words can take a reader. Mosby... weaves {the characters} into a shimmering, unified canvas. The sum of the story makes Private Altars so worthwhile. What is so remarkable about Private Altars is her studious dedication to subtlety and understatement, creating a world that is less about something than a place in itself."
----South Bend Tribune

"This finely crafted novel recreates a lost world, yet the heroine will win any modern heart. The poetic and precise language is a pleasure. Mosby's mix of power and delicacy creates a spellbinding story, beautifully told."
----Cover Magazine

"In elegant prose, Mosby has narrated Vienna Daniels' poignant story of re-affirmation with wit and tenderness through her insightful exploration of 'the tolerance of difference' in its myriad forms."
----The Newport News, VA

"This stunning first novel is the tale of a Northern woman...{and her} children, as fascinating a pair of youngsters as you'll find anywhere. {Mosby} has produced a riveting novel and created three characters that will linger in your mind-- and your heart."
----The Detroit Free Press

"Private Altars successfully captures the essence of a woman who is torn between conforming to the subservient mother figure that society demands and fulfilling the desire to be her own person. Her struggle unfolds into a powerful and unforgettable saga worth reading."
----The Red and Black

"Mosby's vibrant slice of Southern Gothic life is touched with a harsh, fey beauty, the kind of beauty that snatches the skin off of the world. In Private Altars, this novel with a heart like a bell, Katherine Mosby has made a splendid debut."
----Austin Chronicle

"Private Altars by first-time novelist Katherine Mosby is a complex and beautifully written story...Of the many novels I've read recently, this one keeps coming back to haunt me."
----Feminist Bookstore News

"This is a stained-glass window of a book... Mosby's language shines brightly."
----Houston Chronicle

An astonishing novel, filled with language as evocative and precise as poetry. With enormous wit and tenderness, [the author] has created a true Southern original, one of the most passionate and eccentric characters you'll come across in quite some time. Katherine has that rare quality in a novelist: the ability to make you smile even as she's breaking your heart.
----Luanne Rice from the Barnes & Noble website.

'Private Altars' - A Public Pleasure
Katherine Mosby has written a stunning first novel. I would recommend it to any fan of southern fiction, although Private Altars works well as classic literature as well. Like a well-constructed poem, each word of this novel has been weighed carefully, and each paragraph lends to a full understanding of the complexities of human relations, and of the human spirit.
----Patricia Medaille - 5 out of 5 stars at the Barnes & Noble website.