“Palisades Park,” by Alan Brennert. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2013. 421 pages, $25.99 (cloth).

Most Americans of a certain age recognize Palisades Park from the popular song of 1962 sung by Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon (and written by Bowling Green-celebrity Chuck Barris), but those who grew up along the Middle Atlantic coast may also have fond memories of actually spending time there riding the Cyclone or of that special kiss in the Tunnel of Love. Novelist Alan Brennert grew up within a mile of the famous amusement park, and he calls his new book “Palisades Park” “a love letter to a cherished part of my childhood.”

The novel begins in 1922 and ends just past the final season at Palisades in 1971, when it was announced that the park would be razed to build high-rise condominiums. As a young boy Eddie Stopka visits Palisades Park with his family and is awestruck with four roller coasters, the giant salt-water swimming pool, with its waterfall, the shooting gallery, the Carousel, a gondola ride through artificial canals, the spinning buckets of the Virginia Reel, the Penny Arcade, the exotic performers of the Palace of Wonders, the Ferris wheel and the Third Degree funhouse. Residents of the Middle Atlantic will recognize the French fries served in a white paper cone and topped with salt and malt vinegar, still a welcome site at many beach resorts in the area. In 1930, after hitching a ride on empty boxcars through the South, young Eddie eventually gets a job as a grind man selling candy floss and popcorn at Palisades Park. There he meets Adele, who works at the root-beer stand. The two get together behind the waterfall, Adele becomes pregnant and the couple soon marries. After their daughter Antoinette (Toni), the girl on the book’s cover, is born, the Stopkas buy the concession stand to sell French fries at the park.

The author explores various attractions at Palisades Park and the people who ran them. He clearly conducted significant research to make sure he produced an accurate story. As time goes on, Jack joins the family, World War II begins, Eddie enlists and is sent to the Pacific and young Toni dreams of becoming a high-diver from a 90-foot ladder into a pool of water only six feet deep. In addition to the Palisades Park setting, events at Coney Island, Atlantic City’s Steel Pier and various sites on the carny circuit are mentioned, as Toni achieves her goal of becoming a high diver. Eddie’s tour in the Pacific exposes him to the glories of Hawaii and eventually influences him to establish a bar, Eddie’s Polynesia on the Palisades.

Incidentally, two of the author’s other novels are connected to Hawaii. Son Jack has a horrible experience in the Korean War, but he is bolstered by family support when he returns home. Throughout  “Palisades Park” the author develops relationships with family and friends very well, and his story captures the time period and the enchanting wonderland on the Palisades quite effectively.

“Palisades Park” is a good read that should interest anyone who enjoys historical novels set in the 20th century.

— Reviewed by Richard Weigel, WKU History Department.