Loving Frank by Nancy Horan Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Loving Frank
Book Review: Too tabloid-ish
Summary: 3 Stars
Loving Frank is a story about Mamah Borthwick Cheney, a woman who was Frank Lloyd Wright's paramour for seven years. Mamah was a feminist who had married late in life (for back in those days.) Her husband and she hired Mr. Wright to design their home, they became friends with the Wrights, and somewhere along the way Frank and Mamah fell in love and began an affair.
The story takes place in the early 20th century, when women didn't have the vote yet, and a woman was seen as her husband's property. Mamah and Frank were eviscerated by the press. Mamah left her family to live in Europe with Frank, afterwards they built a house on his mother's acreage outside of Chicago, where they lived together until the end of this story.
The characters in this novel are very unsympathetic. Mamah deserts her family, breaking the hearts of her very young children, her husband (who was loving) and her sister, who lived with them. Frank has affairs, lies, and doesn't pay his bills.
The book focuses a lot on how the press published lurid accounts of their affair. The book does what Mamah and Frank complain about the press: it takes away attention from the brilliance of Wright's work by putting his character under a microscope. It underscores that underneath, our geniuses are human. We expect them to be flawless, and are somehow captivated (relieved?) when they aren't.
It's apparent that the novelist, a journalist, worked hard to put the pieces of Frank and Mamah's story together. She lived in the town where Mamah and Frank had lived when they met, and became interested in the role that Mamah played in Frank's life. She did a tremendous amount of research. I wish she had lived in a town where a more morally-inspiring genius had lived on which to ply her trade.
Book Review: Compelling and disturbing
Summary: 5 Stars
"Loving Frank" was riveting from start to finish, both for the insight into Frank Lloyd Wright and the complex dilemma presented of a turn-of-the-century woman longing for 21st century freedoms.
Mamah Borthwick was educated and intelligent, but fell into the trap of marrying Edwin Cheney, a good but boring man. In Wright she felt she had found her intellectual soulmate, but the mores of the time rendered her decisions disastrous. Even from a 21st century perspective, however, I was troubled about her decisions, especially to leave her children with a friend to follow Frank to Europe. Mamah's and Frank's belief that someday their children would appreciate that their parents chose the free life struck me as dangerously naive. One of the great strengths of Horan's novel is that she presents this dilemma in all its complexity, most notably through the character of Lizzie, Mamah's sister.
There was also enough about Wright's architecture in the novel to send me off to the library for photos of his early Chicago houses. They were indeed revolutionary for their time, with long and low lines, capturing space and light in ways never before contemplated. The Cheney home was one of the few smaller prarie houses, of wood and brick melting into the lush greenery that surrounds it. You'll want to see it after you finish this fascinating novel.
Book Review: Opens your mind in many new directions
Summary: 4 Stars
It is hard to find a good novel so intriguing and based on true history. This book, while entertaining, also is informative and made me want to learn more about both Mamah Borthwick and also Frank Lloyd Wright.
Mamah was a strong woman, who back in the early 1900s was willing to stand for what she thought. Well eductated, and multi-lingual, Mamah could be a role model for women today.
True, she left her children to have an affair with FLW, something I would not choose to do. But I admire her passion and her willingness to take a stand in a period when this approach would rarely be considered by women.
The book is primarily written about Mamah Borthwick, and less so about Frank Lloyd Wright. While it gives some insight into his architectural style, the book does not make him a saint. The description of coming to terms with their early affair, their travels through Europe and Asia and their later days at Taliesen are all riveting. The book culminates in an astounding ending, leaving you wanting more.
Book Review: Fascinating people
Summary: 3 Stars
The story is interesting, lots of history and facts. Two people who made great sacrifices to be together and paid a great a price.
At times the story drags with unimportant details, I did not finish the book. Be sure to read the end!
Book Review: The compelling tale of The Other Woman
Summary: 5 Stars
It happens every day: two individuals fall in love, though each is married to another. Secrets are discovered, lives change, families are broken apart. But when one of the two is a local celebrity, the affair also makes daily headlines. What must Life be like when you are true to your heart, but the whole world seems to be conspiring against you and your partner? Why must your every move be broadcast to the American public?
This fictionalized account -- for we'll never know the complete real-life particulars -- documents the relationship of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney. Mamah is a dutiful wife and mother of two, a University of Michigan graduate and a socially active and intelligent woman. When she and her husband decide to build their own house in Oak Park, Illinois, they hire local architect Frank Wright to design their prairie-style home. In the process, Mamah and Frank begin to spend time together, sharing meaningful conversations that turn into something quite different. Frank is married and has six children of his own, and his wife refuses to grant him a divorce. The two lovers travel to Europe and eventually return to settle down near Wright's first home in Spring Green, Wisconsin. While Frank focuses on architecture, Mamah writes and translates Swedish feminist philosophy into American English. They see their children from time to time. Discounting some financial difficulties, they seem to have created an idyllic existence together. For a time.
I toured the Taliesin grounds (but not the residence) in Wisconsin, in the late 1990s. I vaguely remember being told about what happened there in 1914, but only in general terms. It's such a beautiful place -- too restful to be associated with such a horrible tragedy. Now that I have read "Loving Frank," I'd like to go back. That trip will be more contemplative than my initial visit was.
This is a powerful story, told in satisfying prose. Portions of this book will stay with me forever. Thank you, Ms. Horan, for your diligence in researching the details of this story and sharing them so astutely with us. We surely look forward to your next assignment!