This Portland author’s debut follows a character inspired by stories of his great-aunt, who was a Coney Island burlesque stripper in the 1940s.

Portland author 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.

In “The Queen of Steeplechase Park,” Ciminello bases his heroine, Belladonna Marie Donato, on bits from the real-life story of his great-aunt, who worked as a Coney Island burlesque stripper in the 1940s.

By page four of the novel, we learn that Bella from an early age is smart, fierce, independent and strong: “Full of the guile and charm of a Sicilian folk tale fox. She could charm the socks off rocks,” Ciminello croons.

This week’s book

“The Queen of Steeplechase Park” by David Ciminello

Forest Avenue Press — 470 pp — $20

With a mom who has retired permanently to her bed after going mute with a case of small-g, small-d great depression, and an embittered dad who works the night watch at a New Jersey factory, 7-year-old Bella soon takes it upon herself to feed her family.

She gets cooking tips from Big Betty LoMonico, the proprietress at the corner market, and learns how to make a to-die-for tomato gravy, along with magic meatballs.

Throughout the book, Ciminello provides detailed recipes for these and a dozen more dishes. They include not only the basic ingredients but also culinary techniques.

There are secret ingredients, too, including songs to sing while chopping, kneading and baking. Or life advice for the young Jersey girl to contemplate while she’s waiting for the fried cannoli shells to cool — pearls of wisdom like “imagine all your dreams coming true” or “take a moment or two or three to pray for your enemies.”

Big Betty assures little Bella that she possesses a kind of guardian angel that will be with her always — the holy hands of the Cooking Spirit.

Despite being born into impoverished circumstances, Bella has immense appetites and abounding curiosity. That leads to her pregnancy at the age of 15 (there is plenty of sex in this tale — so stow your inhibitions away before cracking open the book). And later, that’s how she lands a job as a stripper for a Coney Island girlie revue.

Throughout this story, Bella variously cavorts, consorts and contends with sideshow freaks, shopkeepers, mob bosses, nuns, cross-dressers, factory workers, her dysfunctional birth family, her queer-centric chosen family, and more.

While Bella does indeed have a true love, a hero, their romance is star-crossed.

Lucky for our young heroine, her capacious heart and adventurous spirit make room for plenty of others in her life.

This novel is decidedly not confined by heteronormative standards. Ciminello, a Lambda Literary Fellow, celebrates diversity and differences in full rainbow-spectrum colors.

The story doesn’t shy away from tragedy or tough topics, but overall “The Queen of Steeplechase Park” is flavored with tolerance, forgiveness, what’s-around-the-next-corner optimism and a healthy pinch of grit.

This novel is published by Portland-based Forest Avenue Press, whose stated mission is to publish “literary fiction on a joyride.” And where better to take a joyride than at Coney Island?