The Queen of Steeplechase Park
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Forest Avenue Press
Published:20th Jun '24
£14.99
Supplier delay - available to order, but may take longer than usual.
- Distribution of early galleys and ARCs to media outlets, reviewers, bloggers, magazines, and key booksellers and librarians
- Reviews targeting Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, Booklist, Shelf Awareness, New York Times and others
- Coverage targeting online literary publications, including The Rumpus, Electric Lit, Literary Hub, and Advice to Writers
- Bella, the protagonist, will be a featured Mother of the Month at the award-winning Mother’s restaurant in Portland, Oregon, featuring a recipe from the book and a “biography” of the character, likely in May to coincide with pub date and Mother’s Day
- Coverage targeting publications seeking to amplify queer voices
- Bookseller outreach, including ABA Advance Access, PNBA giveaways, and selected galley mailings to booksellers who have enjoyed other titles
- PNBA Spring Pop-Up author appearance
- Tour—Pacific NW, New York, Provincetown, San Francisco, and New Jersey—with a focus on bookstores, libraries, and reading series
- Regional coverage targeting Portland-area media
- Book club outreach
- Author interviews: radio, TV, print, and online
- Edelweiss galley giveaways
- Social media including interviews, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
- Promotions on author's website, to be built, and the publisher's website
- Publicity and promotion in conjunction with author's speaking engagements
The Queen of Steeplechase Park is the absolutely, positively, practically, almost-true story of infamous burlesque queen and magic meatball maker Belladonna Marie Donato.
Pregnant at fifteen after gleefully losing her virginity to pansexual neighborhood strongman Francis Anthony Mozzarelli, Bella is robbed of her baby by a pack of nefarious nuns and her embittered papa has her sterilized without her consent (legal in 1935). With the help of a besotted Francis, her newfound family of queercentric outcasts, and a top-secret meatball recipe, a devastated Bella embarks on a riotous quest through Depression-era Coney Island sideshows, the tawdry world of peekaboo striptease routines, a doomed mob marriage, and a tasty collection of wisdom-filled recipes to find her lost child, herself, and maybe even true love. It all leads Bella back home, to the scene of her original sin, where she boldly faces matters of life and death, questions of forgiveness, and a holy mess only the healing properties of great Italian cooking can fix.
Starred Kirkus review
LGBTQ+ Spotlight, Foreword Reviews
15 Indie Press Books You Should Be Reading This Summer, Electric Literature
Staff Pick, Powell's Books
Staff Pick, Annie Bloom's Books
Book of the Day, Foreword Reviews
"Love, pain, and nearly magical meatballs make the story of Bella Donato a delightful read."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Bella is a loud, brash, and lovable heroine."
—Foreword Reviews
"A magnificently charming book."
—The Historical Novel Society
"This is one of the standout feel-good novels of the summer and it will tickle your funny bone, pull at your heartstrings, and remind all of us about the power of forgiveness and friendship, and the preciousness of life, love, and Italian cooking."
—Bay Area Reporter
"Outrageous and engaging in all the best ways."
—Karen, bookseller, Annie Bloom's Books
“David Ciminello’s debut novel commands attention in a raucous style reminiscent of literary bizarro czar Tom Robbins. Perhaps both authors could be characterized as novelistic libertarians in the best sense—writing exuberant, no-holds-barred stories full of heart and eclectic characters.”
—The Bookmonger
"Ciminello has woven a tapestry of Italian recipes, clever language play, and plot (in that order) to lay open Belladonna (just the name alone would have ensured my desire to read it) in the worlds of New Jersey and Coney Island, a woman who is so big hearted and loving that despite her significant flaws, you cannot help but to respect and love her and root for her."
—The Book Review Crew
"The brilliant David Ciminello 's hilarious and moving novel The Queen of Steeplechase Park is a crazy Italian circus with a heart as big as Sicily. I loved Belladonna Marie Donato and her merry band of misfits, outcasts who become chosen family as she makes peace with her family of origin. A glorious Italian American feast! Bravo David!"
—Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of The Good Left Undone
"David Ciminello has written a great big rollercoaster of a novel. . . . Read this book! Hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time."
—Fannie Flagg, author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
—Blair Fell, author of The Sign for Home
—Lidia Yuknavitch, author of Thrust
"Meet Belladonna Marie, the force of nature plucked from the historical and culinary passions of David Ciminello. Set in depression-era Coney Island, the novel whips up a bevy of queer, memorable eccentrics, served with a heaping side of sumptuous language. From Melanzana to Puttana, The Queen of Steeplechase Park is a whimsical, gastronomical delight."
—Suzy Vitello, author ofBitterroot
"The Queen of Steeplechase Park crackles with the hyper-real comic book energy of a graphic novel, and the recipes are a primer on how to live your best life. Buon appetito! Mangiare bene! Delizioso!"
—Stevan Allred, author of The Alehouse at the End of the World
ISBN: 9781942436614
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
470 pages