Belladonna Marie Donato

This month we’re featuring the aunt of a former employee and author, David Ciminello, as our Mother of the Month (M.O.M.). Growing up David was always bowled over by the presence of his Great Aunt Amelia P. Aguiar  whose zest for life, love and delicious food fueled her adventure-filled existence; one that included getting pregnant at fifteen, having her baby taken from her, and running away to Coney Island.

Armed with these tall tales, family folklore whispered down through generations, and a tasty batch of Italian American recipes culled from his family’s kitchen history, David wrote his debut novel, “The Queen of Steeplechase Park,” the absolutely, positively, practically, almost-true story of Belladonna Marie Donato, a young magic meatball making Depression-era Coney Island burlesque queen…

As a motherless little girl, Bella learns to cook at the hands of neighborhood corner store owner, Big Betty LoMonico. It is in Big Betty’s kitchen where Bella is introduced to the healing properties of homemade tomato gravy and magic meatballs. These top-secret recipes, along with many others, come in handy throughout a life that finds Bella embarking on a riotous quest through Depression era Coney Island sideshows, the tawdry world of peekaboo striptease routines, and a doomed mob marriage 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.

Buon appetito! Mangiare bene! Stare bene! Delizioso!