Little Altars Everywhere

** By Rebecca Wells. This book has been on paperback bestseller racks at the bookstores for years, so I finally gave up to the hype and read it. Honestly, I wasn't that impressed. It was an okay read, but I'm not sure about all that hype it got.

The "novel" is actually a series of linked stories that jump time and character viewpoint between chapters. The story is about this dysfunctional Catholic, plantation-owning family in central Lousiana during the early 60s. There's no real plot, just a series of vignettes that gives you a feel for the family and its dynamics.

A couple things bothered me. When POV is constantly switching, I don't feel that the reader gets to know any one character well. Plus it makes me suspicious that the reason the author did it is because her attention span is too short to stick to any one person or idea.

Another thing is that the book was divided into two parts, the first with the "now" POV, the second with the "looking back" POV. The "now" stories are all kind of wacky, the "looking back" stories are all depressing. One minute we're thinking, wow this family's crazy, the next minute we're like, whoa they're messed up and everyone's in therapy.

But the style has it's good points. It reminds you that stories rely on POV. Change the POV, you change the story. Is the mom in the book just wacky, or is she a mental case? Depends on the POV. Just like real life.

Posted by Lisa on October 23, 2001 06:47 AM