The Queen of Steeplechase Park
1930s Coney Island. Young Italian American Belladonna “Bella” Marie Donato has been a firecracker since her earliest years, in which she was tasked with caring for her younger siblings and washing her father’s grungy feet. She’s a rambunctious girl who talks back to nuns and calls on her Cooking Spirit to help her save the day with delicious meatballs. She’s considered the ugly daughter, but becomes beautiful with the help of a gay boy named Terelli who really knows his cosmetics. As she grows older she discovers the joys of not only glorious Italian cooking, but also sex with local adonis Francis Anthony Mozzarelli.
Alas, at 15 she gets pregnant with his child and leaves her father’s house, going to live with the parish priests, for whom she cooks her scrumptious Italian dishes. After she gives birth, her father has her sterilized. The baby is taken away by nuns. Still recovering from the surgery, she runs away to Coney Island, where she lives with a loving chosen family of circus performers and works as a dancer, on account of her zaftig figure. Meanwhile, she searches for her lost love, Francis. Various hijinks ensue as Bella and Francis are torn apart again, then reunited, repeatedly.
Overall, this is a magnificently charming book with a unique main character who manages to push through tragedy without allowing her spirit to break. There’s also a fair amount of LGBTQ representation, including – most memorably – gay mob bosses in drag. I also enjoyed the smatterings of Italian, which really bring the characters and their culture to life. The Queen of Steeplechase Park is a joyful, vivacious, oft-crude tall tale with undeniable wit.
