The Year of Past Things [Paperback]

M. A. Harper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2006

Award-winning chef Phil Randazzo, owner of the trendy Tasso Restaurant in New Orleans, and his new wife, Michelle, are as happy as can be. Michelle's kids, Cam and Nicole, want Phil to be their new father even though they still miss their first dad, A. P. Savoie, a popular Cajun musician who died in a car crash. But it's hard for Phil to concentrate because weird things are happening: The cat suddenly has the ability to walk through locked doors, and the ghost of A. P. Savoie appears at will. Savoie's presence becomes stronger and stronger until the couple asks for help- psychics, exorcists, and local "experts" are consulted, yet no one can save Phil from this pesky ghost. Phil knows that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, but he's not ready to meet his maker yet.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ghosts and New Orleans go together like crawfish and gumbo, as Harper (The Worst Day of My Life, So Far) demonstrates in this delectable spooker spiced with romance, surprises and authentic local color. Chef Phil Randazzo is settling comfortably into his marriage to Michelle Wickham when inexplicable events begin to upset the household. Michelle concludes that the mischief is the work of her first husband, Cajun musician Adrien Paul Savoie, killed in a car accident three years before. A visit to a psychic confirms that Adrien's ghost is trying to tell Michelle he's "not going to let her be hurt again." As Phil and Michelle parse the meaning of that cryptic warning, they realize that each is haunted by ghosts of the past that must be brought into the open and exorcised if they're to continue as a couple. This emotional tale could easily have collapsed into the bathos of a routine paranormal romance, but Harper shows confident control of its elements, regularly jolting the reader with creepy reminders that there's a supernatural mystery to be solved. Some transparently symbolic dreams slow the story in places, but the clues all come together in a magnificently orchestrated finale that shows it's possible for a ghost story to be smart as well as scary.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Phil Randazzo, hardworking chef at the New Orleans restaurant Tasso, is desperate to make a go of his second marriage, to fragile widow Michelle Savoie. His first wife left him after concluding that he was never in touch with his true feelings except in a restaurant kitchen; however, Phil is beginning to realize that parenting Michelle's two children and integrating their dynamics with those of his own two kids is daunting at best. Then a series of eerie events put even more of a strain on their relationship until they realize that they are the victims of a genuine haunting; the ghost who is perpetrating the supernatural events is Michelle's first husband, legendary Cajun musician A. P. Savoie. Reminiscent of an episode from the Twilight Zone, this stylishly written novel uses in-depth characterizations and convincing detail to build in credibility before serving up a whopper of a ghost story. Harper (The Worst Day of My Life So Far, 2001) makes good use of her atmospheric setting in a story that is both savvy and chilling. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 372 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (January 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156029804
• ISBN-13: 978-0156029803
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,399,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A ghost in a marriage, May 23, 2005

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Year of Past Things (Hardcover)

Spooky but not scary, intriguing but uneven, Harper's New Orleans ghost story and psychological portrait of marriage defies easy classification. The story centers on the new marriage between chef Phil Randazzo, divorced, and anthropology professor Michelle Wickham, widowed. They each have children, and Phil's live with his ex-wife, who left him because he was a workaholic who couldn't connect emotionally.

Phil worries about this judgment and tries hard, maybe too hard, to care about the things his new family cares about. He particularly tries to make room for the grief they all feel over the death of husband and father, A.P. Savoie, a popular Cajun musician. If he feels irritation over a certain lack of discipline in the house and an overindulged cat, he suppresses it as best he can.

Michelle entered the marriage in hopes of remaking her life, "starting over." But lately she's been having vivid dreams of Adrien, her dead husband. The latest one ended with Phil's rotting head on a satin pillow.

With the couple stepping carefully and Michelle's children edgily eyeing the new spouse, the last thing they need is supernatural interference. It starts with small things, like the dreams and the cat passing through locked doors, but soon accelerates. On Thanksgiving Day, Phil sees a boy who isn't there, and Michelle recognizes his description as an adolescent version of Adrien. Shocked, she says nothing.

Attuned to his wife's preoccupation and evasion, it doesn't take Phil long to put it together. As the appearances increase in frequency and intensity, Michelle dwells increasingly in the emotions of the past, good and bad. She feels Adrien is trying to communicate with her and the children. Phil reacts like a jealous husband with no rival to challenge. He's not concerned with communicating; he wants Adrien gone from their lives and will do whatever it takes.

While the switching of viewpoints between Phil and Michelle works well, showing their divergent emotional states and unshared thoughts, the fraught by-play between them grows tedious and slows the narrative. While the ghost story is a mystery in itself - and a good one - this sometimes gets lost in the examination of the insecurities, hopes, misunderstandings and secrets of a marriage. But Harper's ("The Worst Day of My Life So Far") descriptions of New Orleans and Cajun culture lend color and flavor to the plot and a well-done ghost story, even one interrupted by relationships, is always a treat.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Colorfully Spooky, May 22, 2005

By 

Patty Lee - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Year of Past Things (Hardcover)

Ghost stories are my favorite and M.A. Harper's "The Year of Past Things" captures life in its setting of Chestnut Street in uptown New Orleans with vivid details. While a paranormal experience could happen anyplace, Harper is able to draw the reader into this family's saga with such adept knowledge of supernatural happenings that you feel like no other place on earth has summoned something quite like this haunting Southern story. A seemingly ordinary marriage between a fairly recent widow of a famous Cajun musician and an award-winning divorced chef-restauranteur, each with children, suddenly surges forth like a rollercoaster ride of unexplainable occurences ranging from an indoor cat coming and going through closed windows to bloody ectoplasms floating through bedrooms. From page one forward, common everyday events start to unfold as not-so-common afterall, via a teasing, and at times taunting, myriad of extraordinary clues about the disturbing unidentified apparition who is lurking around this new household, desperately trying to somehow be set free by circumstances beyond anybody's human control. Harper is masterful at crafting this original and unique mystery tale and takes clever advantage of highlighting key holidays with ghostly happenings that subsequently keep building in intensity, culminating with a shocking scene never to forget during a Mardi Gras parade. The results per chapter satisfy and mystify - and at times horrify - and there are spooky surprises for even the best guessers-of-endings. This seasoned writer has a remarkable sense of detail, taking time to explicitly describe even the smallest observations so beautifully that it is hard to lose the image from one's imagination long after the last page has been enjoyed. You are invited by the author to feel like you are there. Entertaining, thought-provoking, and flavored with a nice twist of evil-spirit-world, this intriguing book explores the complexities of love, new relationships with "past things" cropping up when least desired, the confounding nature of kids growing up with step-parents and step-siblings under the same haunted roof, and descriptive local life and lingo in colorful superstitious New Orleans where just about anything eerie can happen as a backdrop on any given day or . . . dark midnight; all within the chilling confines of a poignant suspended state of the supernatural. Exquisite writing and delectable delivery! An A+ creative novel by a five star writer.

Patty Lee, customer review

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A New Orleans ghost story, December 31, 2004

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Year of Past Things (Hardcover)

The newly formed Randazzo family has been living on a diet of change. By the time Chef Phil Randazzo, owner of a trendy New Orleans restaurant, marries the widow of deceased Cajun musician A.P. Savoie, the artist's following has achieved cult status. Savoie was tragically killed in an accident, leaving Michelle and her two children shocked and grieving. Now Michelle believes marriage to the affable Phil will restore some degree of security to the children's lives. Randazzo's first marriage, this impulsive adventure is mined with booby traps, most notably a teen-aged son and his contemplative, artistic younger sister. Given time, Phil is determined to win both children over.

Things would probably work out if only the dead would stay dead. Apparently, A.P. Savoie has no intention of remaining beyond the pale, appearing to Phil on the odd occasion, sending a message the new husband cannot fathom. Are these apparitions a warning or a menace? Circumstances go from bad to worse as the apparitions accelerate and the couple is frequently at odds, Michelle questioning the meaning of her past with Savoie and Phil wondering if his wife is really over her deceased husband.

The author sets a series of bizarre occurrences in New Orleans, an apt venue for a ghost story, a city renown for mystery, superstition, beloved saints and obscure voodoo practices. With the escalation of random dangerous events, each family member is at risk and it is imperative that Phil and Michelle put aside their differences to resolve the mystery of the apparitions. If Savoie is trying to communicate from beyond the grave, is he threatening his wife's happiness or trying to warn of imminent danger. The spirit world exists on another realm, not accessible to a frightened couple, who need help but don't know where to turn, abandoned by belief and wary of superstition.

Each family member narrowly escapes violence, fearful that the threat is out of control; circumstances force them to share personal experiences, secret thoughts and buried fears in an effort to unravel Savoie's cryptic message from the other side. If Phil and Michelle can put aside their own feelings to protect the children and the everyone will trust the good intentions of their new step-father, the family may yet save themselves from further catastrophe. Desperate enough to try anything and sensing that time is short, Phil and Michelle turn to spiritualists, prayer, priests and exorcism.

This modern-day ghost story is as much a tale of acceptance and adjustment as it is an adventure into the unknown. M.A. Harper, in the Acknowledgments, confides that she cut her teeth on ghost stories, heard them whispered at parties all her life, as much a part of New Orleans as its music and ritualistic celebrations. New Orleans city coexists with the past and the present, the shadows of the dead never far away, either in loving memory or with malevolent intent. The Randazzo's fight the demons of the past to secure the present, reserving a place for a beloved, if flawed father in the hearts of his children. Luan Gaines/2005.