Palisades Park; Alan Brennert
St Martin's Press - Recorded Books
Palisades Park in New Jersey is the back drop for what will be a
trip down memory lane for some readers. The story begins back in 1922
and spans some 50 years. The story follows the Stopka family, Eddie, his
wife Adele, daughter Antoinette (Toni) and son Jack.
Eddie Stopka was just a young child in 1922 when he
experienced Palisades amusement park for the first time. The sights, the
smells, the salt-water pool and performers. For Eddie, these were
memories which would last a lifetime. As a teen Eddie runs away from
home, fleeing his abusive stepfather, but he returns to NJ and finds
work at the amusement park, a place that brought him so much happiness
as a child. He meets his wife Adele at Palisades, buys a concession
stand that the two of them operate, and the couple have two children who
are also raised with "Palisades" being a part of their inner being.
Little Toni is a tomboy and a daredevil, she's also a dreamer who is
determined to do anything she sets he mind to even when people tell her
something can't be done. One of her dreams is to be a high diver. Her
brother Jack is more reserved.
Over the course of the novel, and it's a long one, a
lot of things happen: marriage, births, the Great Depression, wars, a
fire at the park, and even racial unrest. Each of these events affects the
Stopa family in some way. This isn't a novel with a lot of action, but
it is a good story with well developed characters that I grew to care
about. I enjoyed the interesting details about the park's history and
about carnival life, but most of all I was just happy to feel like I really got to know the Stopka family.
Alan Brennert is a fine writer, one of his earlier novels, Moloka'i (2003) will long remain a favorite piece of literary fiction for me.
The
audio book was read by Mark McCarthy, and was very well done. As a
side note, Palisades Park, shut down completely on September 12, 1971 to
make room for high rise condominiums.
4/5 stars
(library audio book)
This one sounds intriguing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your review. Palisades Park sounds interesting. Nice cover too!
ReplyDeleteI love the title and the cover so I'm happy to see the book sounds very appealing to me.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great multi-generational novel. And, yes, isn't that cover pretty!
ReplyDeleteI generally love the characters of Brennert's books. I loved his Moloka'i too. I will have to read this - I know I will enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds interesting! I grew up in NY, but we often went to NJ. Alan Brennert must be a great writer. I'm so glad you enjoyed the audio version. Have a terrific weekend, Diane!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a good one.
ReplyDeleteI'm always sad when historical places fall prey to highrises!
Are you old enough to remember the old Freddie Cannon song? :<) I even made mention of it on the blog once:
ReplyDeletehttp://lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com/2007/09/todays-poem-by-wh-auden.html
I really want to read this one. I just like the sound of it.
ReplyDelete