Loving Frank: A Novel by Nancy Horan Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Loving Frank: A Novel
Book Review: An Amazing Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book based on a recommendation from a friend. Even though I am not usually a fan of historical fiction, I was interested, as I have been to Falling Water and knew a few things- or so I thought- about Frank Lloyd Wright.
I was truly captivated by this book. Loving Frank tells of the clandestine love affair between the Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney. This book was so amazing from a feminist stand point...Mamah was a very well-educated, strong woman who was trying to fight her way in a man's world. She did not get a fair shake in the world, but was very courageous.
The end was quite a shock and inspired me to find out more about the lives of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney. (Ahhhh, now I understand the draw to historical fiction!) I spent a few hours on the internet researching after I finished reading this wonderful book. It is a story that will stay with you, and leave you wanting more.
Book Review: An Amazing Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is beautifully written and totally enthralling. I could not put it down. It teeters on Brilliant! Historical fiction is so hard to bring off convincingly. Never for a moment did I doubt it. Buy it, read it. You will not be sorry.Book Review: An Engrossing Read
Summary: 4 Stars
Loving Frank is a great, engrossing read, the story of the relationship between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney, a relationship that began when both were married, with children, to other people. A relationship of that kind would be shocking today, and Nancy Horan does a great job of conveying the absolute scandal it created a hundred years ago. The scandal, however is not the focus of the book. Rather, it is the relationship between these two soul mates and how their individual flaws slowly surface and chip away, but not completely, at their relationship. These two historical figures were indeed unique characters in their brilliance and inability to really see the scandal and hurt their love creates. Horan's novel is engrossing and readable. She manages to make both characters likeable, if not entirely sympathetic. My only complaint is that the novel starts off rather slowly. Once you are past the first 50 pages or so, the pacing picks up, making this novel a thoroughly engrossing read. Horan writes extremely well, so even those first 50 pages are quite enjoyable to read. This novel would be an excellent choice for any book club--an enjoyable read with many provocative topics to discuss and explore.Book Review: An enjoyable novel for sure.
Summary: 4 Stars
I have to say that this is an excellent fiction based on true facts novel. It's a great read and interesting with an ending that I hardly expected. I didn't know very much about Frank Lloyd Wright before reading this book. It's sort of a neat peek into the seven years he spent with a lover. How she affected his work and how she lived her own life.Book Review: An excellent first novel
Summary: 5 Stars
Author Nancy Horan has categorized her debut novel, Loving Frank, as historical fiction, but others might classify it as romance. The story is based on the real-life love affair that took place from 1907 to 1914, between world-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright and one of his clients, Mamah Borthwick. During this period, Wright had not yet become the internationally, or even nationally recognized architect whose name is so familiar today.
Much has been written about Wright, but little information exists about Mamah Borthwick, who was married to Edwin Cheney at the time she and Wright began their liaison, so Horan created the persona of Mamah by interviewing people who were neighbors of the Cheneys, poring over articles from the yellow journalism tabloids of the time, and most importantly, reading several letters Mamah had written to Swedish philosopher Ellen Key.
The Cheneys had hired Wright, who was also married, to design and build a house for them. It was during this process that Mamah and Frank developed a close friendship, and it was after the Cheneys were living in the house but some work still needed to be completed that the intimate relationship between Mamah and Frank began. Frank's wife eventually discovered the affair, and later, Mamah confessed it to Edwin. Both Mamah and Frank ended up leaving their families (yes, there were children involved) and living together.
Horan's novel deftly traces the hefty price that Mamah, an educated woman, translator, and supporter of woman's suffrage, paid for loving Frank. She lost not only her husband and children, but her friends and sister too. Even when there were still opportunities to return to their fold, even during periods that Wright returned to his own family, Mamah maintained an independent life, because she was also on a journey of self-discovery, trying to figure out what she was beyond a wife and mother.
There were times throughout this story when I felt like kicking Mamah for not coming to her senses and other moments when I rooted her on as she championed a cause. Clearly, Horan has created a character who could have been the real Mamah Borthwick, one who has faults as well as admirable qualities.
Quill says: An excellent first novel from an author who may have you asking yourself how much women's roles have changed today.