Rhapsody for Piano and Ghost, by Z.A. Maxfield

[Ulysses]

Rhapsody for Piano and Ghost
Z.A. Maxfield
ZAM I AM books, 2011
Four stars

Quite the perfect mélange of quirky artist/nerd and hot celebrity/nerd romance—with a rather odd but effective ghost story thrown in, although for what reason I’m still not sure. That said, I enjoyed this a lot, because the author has a way with characters and with language in general.

Fitzgerald Algernon Gaffney is a youthful piano prodigy, taking a pre-college “gap year” as only his overpowering (and entirely offscreen) mother Adelaide would envision it: a year in a music conservatory in Los Angeles, so that his virtuoso skills won’t get rusty. Fitz is comfortable but lonely in his mother’s palatial house, happy with his studies, but sort of desperate to have a love life—or at least a social life. There is an eccentric housekeeper who was intriguing but who also did not get enough attention in the narrative.

When Fitz’s first attempt at a date with a classmate goes horribly awry, he is rescued twice: first by two elegant ghosts, Serge and Julian, and then by Ari Scheffield, Fitz’s one-time stepbrother. With clear homage to the 1995 film “Clueless,” Ari is perhaps five years older than Fitz. A former boy-band singer turned forensic accountant, Ari has always liked Fitz, probably more than Fitz ever understood. Fitz has always looked up to Ari, whose apparent perfection makes him feel even more inadequate than he usually does. Each young man sees the other as a kind of “impossible dream.” It’s an obvious romantic set-up, but it works because of Fitz’s innocence and Ari’s innate goodness.

This is not a very profound plot, but it is full of fun and the characters are engaging. I got a better sense of who Ari is—and he’s a genuinely interesting and admirable guy. Fitz, on the other hand, is not quite as fully fleshed out. I’d have liked to know more about his love for piano playing—which is certainly discussed, but also somewhat overwhelmed by his ditzy inability to behave responsibly. Fitz is vulnerable and innocent, which is the perfect set-up for Ari’s knight-in-shining-armor instincts. The few scenes where Fitz plays the piano are really good—but I wanted more.

The ghosts, who move into Fitz’s house after pulling him out of a dumpster, are a slightly missed opportunity. Either it needs to be a longer book, or there needs to be a second book to give Julian and Serge more time. What they do in this story is great—and their story is revealed at just the right moment to make it maximally heartbreaking. This duo is a brilliant conceit, but I never fully got the “why” of their presence in the book, other than to add a paranormal sitcom spice to the screwball romance story. The author clearly loves Julian and Serge, but I think they deserved more, and could have made the story greater and more historically resonant. I see where Maxfield was going with them, but she didn’t quite get there.

This is a good book; but had it not been hemmed in by the parameters of m/m romance, I think it could have been a great book. Ari and Fitz have an epic quality to their love that was only gently explored; while Julian and Serge represent something bigger, darker, and potentially life-changing for the two living men.