THE QUEEN OF STEEPLECHASE PARK

An Italian American teenager in 1930s Coney Island loses one family but gains another in Ciminello’s hyperkinetic coming-of-age tale.

An “absolutely, positively, practically, almost-true story,” as the author refers to it, this narrative centers on Belladonna Marie Donato (Bella, to her close friends and family), the whirlwind heart of the Donato family. Fierce, intelligent, blessed with what her first mentor in the cooking arts calls “the Cooking Spirit” and (eventually) a bombshell appearance, at 6 years old, Bella is the type of girl who feels free to bite the nuns who try to change her name. As Bella enters her teens, she discovers sex, which she embraces with gusto, quickly becoming pregnant by Francis Anthony Mozzarelli, a man whose beauty serves as inspiration for a painting of Jesus and a source of longing for his gay buddy, Terelli Lombardi. After Bella delivers a baby boy, her father, Manny, has her sterilized and delivers the infant to an orphanage. These events begin a voyage of self-discovery as Bella searches to fill the void of the family she loses while finding circus folk, a warm-hearted priest, a mobbed-up boss with a deeply hidden secret, and any number of other misfits and outcasts along the way. Ciminello doesn’t bother with realism, telling his tale with vivid, irrepressible language seasoned with plenty of profanity and earthy sexuality. While there aren’t any truly supernatural events, frequent calls to the Cooking Spirit and references to ghosts and hearing voices come close enough to magical realism to make the difference academic. The energy and emotional pitch of the story start high and never let up, but Ciminello settles into a groove after a few chapters, allowing the pathos of Bella’s life to develop in relatable ways. As a bonus, the copious recipes included provide a taste of the Cooking Spirit she exemplifies.

Love, pain, and nearly magical meatballs make the story of Bella Donato a delightful read.