Book cover for Narrows Gate by Jim Fusilli

Narrows Gate

2011 Released
546 Pages
9-13 Hours
Ebook Unavailable
Audiobook Unavailable
Paperback Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
Amazon PublishingISBN 9781612181370

Jim Fusilli's new novel takes place in the years surrounding World War II in the dangerous immigrant neighborhood of Narrows Gate, overlooking the Hudson River, where anything can happen--and it usually does. Sal Benno is a neighborhood kid who doesn't take to school but is able to provide the favors the Mafia needs, a skill that brings him into their inner circle and closer to ultimate danger. His lifelong friend Leo Bell sticks by Sal through thick and thin, but harbors a dangerous secret that could either keep Sal alive--or bring his life to an abrupt end. In the middle of it is Billy "Bebe" Marsala, a hugely popular and handsome crooner who becomes a pawn in a mob war that could destroy them all. A novel that rekindles the spirit of such groundbreaking works as Mario Puzo's The Godfather and Budd Schulberg's On the Waterfront, Narrows Gate is a powerful, epic saga that captures the heart of the immigrant experience--and the soul of America.

Jim Fusilli

Jim Fusilli is the author of eight novels and two works of nonfiction. He also served as the rock and pop music critic of the Wall Street Journal. Among his novels are Closing Time, A Well-Known Secret, Tribeca Blues, and Hard, Hard City, about New York City private investigator Terry Orr and his young daughter, Bella, who Orr is raising in the aftermath of the murder of his wife and infant son. Narrows Gate is an epic set in the first half of the twentieth century in the Italian-American community of a gritty waterfront city based on Hoboken, New Jersey, Fusilli’s birthplace. Fusilli has published many short stories including “Chellini’s Solution,” which appeared in the 2007 edition of the Best American Mystery Stories, and “Digby, Attorney at Law,” which was nominated for the Edgar and Macavity Awards. In 2005, Fusilli wrote Pet Sounds, his tribute to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys’ classic album. Described as “an experiment in music journalism,” the book combines the rhythm and emotional weight of his fiction with the often-unorthodox observations of his music criticism for the Journal, for whom he began writing in 1983. Pet Sounds was translated to Japanese by the novelist Haruki Murakami. Fusilli is married to the former Diane Holuk, a senior global communications consultant. They reside in New York City. For more information, visit www.jimfusilli.com.

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