House of Frank
A warm and hopeful story of a lonely witch consumed by grief who discovers a whimsical cast of characters in a magical arboretum – and the healing power of found family.
Powerless witch Saika is ready to enact her sister’s final request: to plant her remains at the famed Ash Gardens. When Saika arrives at the always-stormy sanctuary, she is welcomed by its owner, an enormous, knit-cardiganed mythical beast named Frank, who offers her a role as one of the estate’s caretakers.
Overcome with grief, Saika accepts, desperate to put off her final farewell to her sister. But the work requires a witch with intrinsic power, and Saika’s been disconnected from her magic since her sister’s death two years prior. Saika gets by at the sanctuary using a fragment of a fallen star to cast enchantments – while hiding the embarrassing truth about herself.
As Saika works harder in avoidance of her pain, she learns more about Frank, the decaying house at Ash Gardens, and the lives of the motley staff, including bickering twin cherubs, a mute ghost, a cantankerous elf, and an irritating half witch, among others. Over time, she rediscovers what it means to love and be wholly loved and how to allow her joy and grief to coexist.
Warm and inventive, House of Frank is a stirring portrait of the ache of loss and the healing embrace of love.
Kay Synclaire is the youngest of five children and the proud aunt of twelve. Kay attended Philadelphia University (now Thomas Jefferson University) before working in caretaking roles as a nurse assistant and preschool teacher. Kay currently lives in Philadelphia with her sister, who is the coauthor of her 2022 collection of short stories, The Strange Accounts of Germantown and Other Peculiar Phenomena. House of Frank is Kay’s debut novel.
