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Loving Frank: A Novel (Paperback)

by Nancy Horan (Author)

4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (April 8 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345495004
ISBN-13: 978-0345495006
Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13.2 x 2.5 cm
Shipping Weight: 341 g

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #7,451 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Horan's ambitious first novel is a fictionalization of the life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, best known as the woman who wrecked Frank Lloyd Wright's first marriage. Despite the title, this is not a romance, but a portrayal of an independent, educated woman at odds with the restrictions of the early 20th century. Frank and Mamah, both married and with children, met when Mamah's husband, Edwin, commissioned Frank to design a house. Their affair became the stuff of headlines when they left their families to live and travel together, going first to Germany, where Mamah found rewarding work doing scholarly translations of Swedish feminist Ellen Key's books. Frank and Mamah eventually settled in Wisconsin, where they were hounded by a scandal-hungry press, with tragic repercussions. Horan puts considerable effort into recreating Frank's vibrant, overwhelming personality, but her primary interest is in Mamah, who pursued her intellectual interests and love for Frank at great personal cost. As is often the case when a life story is novelized, historical fact inconveniently intrudes: Mamah's life is cut short in the most unexpected and violent of ways, leaving the narrative to crawl toward a startlingly quiet conclusion. Nevertheless, this spirited novel brings Mamah the attention she deserves as an intellectual and feminist. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From AudioFile

This charming blend of fact and fiction is based upon Mamah Borthwick CheneyÕs affair with renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Exploring the relationship from CheneyÕs perspective, HoranÕs novel focuses on the challenges she faces as she tries to balance the affair with her roles as mother and spouse. The story is at times gentle, at times stunning, but always captivating. Joyce Bean narrates with a grace and style that enhance the book, presenting listeners with a glimpse into the events and emotions that rocked Chicago society at the turn of the twentieth century. Using a calm yet intense tone, Bean captures CheneyÕs emotional struggle to justify her clandestine relationship and highlights her ability to profoundly influence the idiosyncratic Wright. D.J.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Customer Reviews

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4.2 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tragic Liaison, Sep 26 2007

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Loving Frank: A Novel (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book for rounding out my sense of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney, who was his lover and sometime soul mate for many years. It's the most pleasant way I know to bring these two powerful people to life in your mind.

Most novels deal with romance, hope, and redemption. Loving Frank is quite different because it displays a tragedy based on imagining the relationship between two real people, the famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the wife of one of his clients, Mamah Borthwick Cheney, who left her husband and family to live with Wright. Beyond a few scraps of writing, we know little about Mamah Borthwick Cheney other than what a few friends and the excesses of journalists said about her. Even though I've read several books about Wright, I didn't get much of a sense about Mamah until reading this book. I thought that Nancy Horan did a fine job of bringing Mamah to life by imputing reasonable motives to her for the actions she is known to have taken.

Frank Lloyd Wright had a reputation for romancing the wives of his clients, but only Mamah left home and hearth for him . . . despite having a comfortable marriage and two children. Mamah appears to have seen this as an opportunity to become a fulfilled person by having a professional (she was a translator of feminist literature) and a personal life (with Frank) that was continually stimulating.

Why, then, is this a tragedy? Well, Mamah didn't end up doing nearly as much professionally as she hoped, and Wright was often not around . . . or not behaving as he should have. In addition, Mamah ended up being characterized by the press as a scarlet woman in a way that shamed all of her family and friends. Her leaving her family affected her children and herself in fundamental ways as well . . . the loss was substantial. Relations with her author were also strained. And her life ended in a tragic way. If you want to know more about the real events, I recommend Death in a Prairie House by William R. Drennan.

You can visit Frank Lloyd Wright's home in Oak Park, Illinois as it was constituted in 1909 when he left his family to be with Mamah. Her home is also nearby. In addition, you can tour Taliesin near Spring Green, Wisconsin to help you imagine what their life was like. I have been to all three locations and felt that background helped make the book more real to me.

In the end, I found myself wondering what Mamah would have to say about her life if she could be an independent observer. Was it worth it? Should she have chosen some other path?

Those who are looking for lots of romance between the two will be disappointed in the book. The scenes where both appear are often more about ideas and culture than they are about the relationship.

If you have Frank Lloyd Wright on a pedestal because he was a great architect, this book will help you see his feet of clay.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Debut novel I have read since "Across the High Lonesome.", Aug 12 2007

By	Ronald Pavlovich "Big Chief" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Loving Frank: A Novel (Hardcover)

I gave this Debut effort by Nancy Horan a try because of A life long interest in Frank Lloyd Wright. This ambitious work is a fictional accounting of the life of Mamah Cheney. After being hired by Cheney's husband to design a family home, Wright had a scandalous affair With Mrs. Cheney that wrecked both their marriages. This might seem like the plot of a romance novel, but believe me this book is not a romance novel! Cheney is portrayed as an educated woman struggling with her independence against the conventions of a time period when woman were for bearing children and keeping the home fires burning--to be seen but not heard!

Frank and Mamah both leave their respective families to live together and travel the world, then eventually settle in Wisconsin. Wright's bigger than life personality is adequately displayed by the author, but the real story here is Maham who lost much in her quest for self realization and also in perusing her love for Wright. Her life is tragically cut short which makes for a difficult ending, still reading about this amazing woman, who was a head of her time makes for fascinating reading.

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4.0 out of 5 stars I loved this novel!, Oct 4 2009

By	C. Woodley (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As someone with a passing interest in the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, this novel stunned me. It is a fictinal account of true events surrounding the long-term affair between Wright and Mamah Borthwick, who, with her husband, commissioned the legendary designer to build their new home. The couple's relationship wreaked havoc on early 20th century mid-west America. Both had young children and the media had a field day.

But at the heart of this story is Mamah's struggle to find her identity as a woman in a society that had not yet recognized a women's right to vote. She loved Frank, but her search, and her decision to leave her family, was rooted in her desire to assert her own independence and express her talents as a writer. I must say, there were times I didn't like either of these characters; the price they paid to be together was higher than most would pay, especially concerning their children. But this is the conflict the book explores, and it does so brilliantly.

This is a love story, a scandal sheet and a historical overview of modern design and the women's movement. The writer has somehow woven all this together into a very compelling and enjoyable read. I highly recommend "Loving Frank".

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3.0 out of 5 stars Facts & fiction
This book prompted me to look for a photo album of long ago. Pictures I had taken while touring around Chicago and, of course, they include several buildings/homes by Frank Lloyd... Read more

Published 2 months ago by I LOVE BOOKS

4.0 out of 5 stars "It's not good to live so much inside oneself. It's a self-imposed exile"
Part love story and part treatese on the social mores of the early twentieth century, Nancy Horan's beautfully rendered Loving Frank is all about the life of Martha "Mamah"... Read more

Published on Sep 14 2007 by Michael Leonard