In Kay Synclaire's thoughtful debut novel, House of Frank, Saika, a lonely and grieving witch, follows the directions of an old ad: "Once you see the bright red door, you'll know you're home." Her sister, Fiona, is gone, and had one last request for Saika. But bringing Fiona to Ash Gardens, a magical arboretum where she had wished to be laid to rest, is proving harder than Saika imagined. When she finally stumbles there on a stormy night, Saika meets Frank, the caretaker-beast who runs Ash Gardens in the memory of his wife, Kay. He invites Saika to stay until she is ready to plant Fiona's ashes so that they will grow into a tree and she will live on in a different form.
Saika is not the only one staying at Ash Gardens, and she bonds with the other residents as they help those who come to Ash Gardens to say goodbye. Along with Frank, a fairy, a ghost, an elf, twin cherubs, and a couple of other witches all fill Saika's life with work and conversation. Saika even regains purpose and joy as she finds her way back to pursuits that she had loved before Fiona's death, like playing music. But those bonds come with a price, and while Saika tries to keep her secrets to herself, she uncovers deeper ones that may ruin them all, along with her new home.
House of Frank weaves compelling characters, evocative prose, and a touch of magic with a narrative that balances wonder at the joy of choosing to live a full life, even with the heartbreaking knowledge of what it means to have faced death. Synclaire has filled these pages with love amidst grief, showing that the pain of losing someone is not singular and is grappled with in many different ways. Not everyone's path through loss looks the same, but all paths through grief can lead to finding new connections and new reasons not to be lost in the loss of the past.
A stunning tale of learning to let go, Synclaire's House of Frank creates a space for sitting with grief that reminds readers that death is not the end, and no one is truly alone, and one way or another, those we lose remain with us in different ways. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer
Shelf Talker: Synclaire's evocative debut weaves together love and loss in a beautiful tale that readers surely will to want to return to.