PRAISE FOR THANKSGIVING…

“A beautiful and heartbreaking story of friendship and survival, abuse and retribution, love and justice, told without sentimentality but with a reporter’s sharp and spare prose.” – Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief, The Huffington Post

“An excellent writer, highly recommended.” – Tom Franklin, award-winning author of
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter and Hell at the Breech

“A contemporary Southern version of Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio. Exquisitely wrought, spare and gorgeous prose, wonderful dialogue–this book is a winner and highly recommended.” – Denise Hamilton, best-selling author of the Eve Diamond crime novels

“For those of us who grew up experiencing New Orleans… Thanksgiving hits close to home– maybe too close. It’s like stories we’re hearing from cousins about long-hidden family secrets. It flows freely, like hot beignets and coffee and chicory at Cafe du Monde on a crisp morning during football season.” – P.M. LaRose, author of First Case of Beers 

“From bayou mystique to Big Easy intrigue, here is an authentic Louisiana tale, well told. With characters that exude all the quirks and charm of exotic New Orleans and its environs, Thanksgiving navigates a gauntlet of trauma, survival and redemption and delivers a story that will keep readers in its grip from start to finish.” – Ron Thibodeaux, author of Hell or High Water: How Cajun Fortitude Withstood Hurricanes Rita and Ike. 

“Mary R. Arno’s “Thanksgiving” is a beautifully fractured narrative offering glimpses into the lives of three women over the course of their childhoods and adult lives… Arno writes with a poetic, visual touch, bringing characters, story and setting to life through revealing and well-chosen detail.” – Sarah Roe, Teachers College, Columbia University

She hadn’t thought about Rinse’s since some of Big Eddie’s friends had gone there after the funeral. It was on the stretch of Magazine Street that had gone upscale in the last dozen years. Shops that used to sell used furniture now advertised “antiques.” There were restaurants with patio seating, wine bars, gourmet food stores. But Rinse’s was a remnant of the old Magazine. Its big plate glass window was hung with heavy velvet drapes to help the old Fedders built into the side wall keep the place cool. She wondered if it was the same inside. She thought of Beau, at home asleep.

– From Thanksgiving