That Lonely Spell

Frances Park's parents arrived in the United States decades before the mass migration of Koreans. Her background and memory are rich with unique histories that work their way into That Lonely Spell. A mosaic of previously published essays, this memoir reveals-with heartbreak and humor-one woman's passion, insights, and love for the family and friends who graced her life. A singular voice.

Heart and humanity shine through in essays that speak to a fierce love of family and longing for home.

-Kirkus Reviews





Frances Park's haunted essays are part elegiac after party, part Coen brothers whispers. But it's her mother and lost-too-soon father that steal that show.

-Richard Peabody, editor of Gargoyle Magazine, author of Guinness on the Quay



The ferocious energy of Frances Park's essays... captivated me from beginning to end.

-R. L. Maizes, author of Other People's Pets and We Love Anderson Cooper



That Lonely Spell has cast its blissful spell on me... each story is heart-tugging and painfully honest - with heaps of humor throughout.

-Scott Saalman, columnist, author of What Are You Going to Write About When I'm Gone?



In this rich and artful memoir-in-essays, Park's loves and losses become the reader's as well.

-Elizabeth McKenzie, author of The Portable Veblen



Frances Park writes so elegantly about family and personal history, and how that history gradually becomes beautiful, monumental myth.

-Ben Nussbaum, editor of Spirituality & Health



Frances Park's stories are deep, blue and soulful-and I loved being lost in her sea of prose.

-Bill Adler, author of Outwitting Squirrels and Boys and Their Toys



A Korean heritage interwoven with an American-upbringing results in unique views on life and family. These coming-of-age stories-these life lessons-entertain even as they teach us something about ourselves.

-Robert Kostuck, author and editor-in-chief, DoveTales



A tour de force in memoir writing... informative, elegant, and extravagantly pleasurable to read.

-Susan Tepper, author of What Drives Men and The Crooked Heart, a Play



Each story is magical, so powerful and beautifully recalled you'll swear you were with her.

-Rick Cooper, lyricist, author of For the Record