*I received a copy of this eARC from Netgalley in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.*

This book is set in New Orleans, pre Katrina. I may not have chosen the best time to read it, as Laura was decimating parts of Louisiana while I was speed reading my way through this book because I couldn't put it down. The story takes place during one night in the life of Rosemary, a burlesque dancer. She is going through some things, and because of it doesn't always make the best of decisions."Decatur Street" touches on not only race relations and white privilege in New Orleans (still super relevant even FIFTEEN years later) but on how easy it is to lose oneself in the seedy streets of NOLA. I may have enjoyed it a bit more because I am from Louisiana and the places are familiar to me, but I thought this was a decent read. You're not going to like the main character, but you aren't really supposed to. She's not cuddly, she doesn't make good choices-- but she's real, which made it worth it for me.

Not what I expected but a wonderful novel which might mean even more to those familiar with New Orleans in 2004. Rosemary and Gaby were friends for years, bonding over their otherness-Gaby is black and Rosemary is poor. Rosemary manages to get a scholarship to college and then makes a series of bad choices, most involving alcohol, which lead to her being kicked out of school. Unfortunately, she opts to return to New Orleans and goes to work as a dancer at the Sugarlick, putting her at odds with Gaby. The relationship is so fractured that they don't talk and when Rosemary's dog dies, she has no one to turn to so she sets out in the night. This is told over the course of that night as she goes from place to place and meets a variety of characters but mostly she thinks about the past. And about Gaby. It's a good read with interesting ideas. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Am looking forward to more from Cohen.

The sounds, the smells, of New Orleans come off the page. The duality of old money, and the poor, and the complexity of racial relations in the city shape them all. Who had the more challenging life, Gaby or Rosie?

I wanted to like this book. I REALLY did. The writing was superb, but the storyline was sorely lacking. I simply didn't care about ...... anyone in the story. I was halfway through still wondering what it was about. By the end, I was skipping entire paragraphs just trying desperately to get to whatever the point was supposed to be, and I never did find it. I'm sorry, but it just wasn't for me.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.