Loving Frank
Books | Fiction / Literary
3.7
(203)
Nancy Horan
I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current. So writes Mamah Borthwick Cheney in her diary as she struggles to justify her clandestine love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Four years earlier, in 1903, Mamah and her husband, Edwin, had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction developed between Mamah and Frank, and in time the lovers, each married with children, embarked on a course that would shock Chicago society and forever change their lives. In this ambitious debut novel, fact and fiction blend together brilliantly. While scholars have largely relegated Mamah to a footnote in the life of America’s greatest architect, author Nancy Horan gives full weight to their dramatic love story and illuminates Cheney’s profound influence on Wright. Drawing on years of research, Horan weaves little-known facts into a compelling narrative, vividly portraying the conflicts and struggles of a woman forced to choose between the roles of mother, wife, lover, and intellectual. Horan’s Mamah is a woman seeking to find her own place, her own creative calling in the world. Mamah’s is an unforgettable journey marked by choices that reshape her notions of love and responsibility, leading inexorably ultimately lead to this novel’s stunning conclusion. Elegantly written and remarkably rich in detail, Loving Frank is a fitting tribute to a courageous woman, a national icon, and their timeless love story.BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Nancy Horan's Under the Wide and Starry Sky. Advance praise for Loving Frank: “Loving Frank is one of those novels that takes over your life. It’s mesmerizing and fascinating–filled with complex characters, deep passions, tactile descriptions of astonishing architecture, and the colorful immediacy of daily life a hundred years ago–all gathered into a story that unfolds with riveting urgency.” –Lauren Belfer, author of City of Light “This graceful, assured first novel tells the remarkable story of the long-lived affair between Frank Lloyd Wright, a passionate and impossible figure, and Mamah Cheney, a married woman whom Wright beguiled and led beyond the restraint of convention. It is engrossing, provocative reading.” ——Scott Turow “It takes great courage to write a novel about historical people, and in particular to give voice to someone as mythic as Frank Lloyd Wright. This beautifully written novel about Mamah Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright’s love affair is vivid and intelligent, unsentimental and compassionate.” ——Jane Hamilton “I admire this novel, adore this novel, for so many reasons: The intelligence and lyricism of the prose. The attention to period detail. The epic proportions of this most fascinating love story. Mamah Cheney has been in my head and heart and soul since reading this book; I doubt she’ ll ever leave.” –Elizabeth Berg
Romance
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More Details:
Author
Nancy Horan
Pages
384
Publisher
Random House Publishing Group
Published Date
2007-08-07
ISBN
0345502256 9780345502254
Ratings
Google: 3.5
Community ReviewsSee all
"A fictionalized version of a very controversial love story between Mamah Cheney and Franklin Lloyd Wright. It was pretty informative and I felt for Mamah as she was trying to live according to the truth in her heart. The consequences are complicated and the ending was so unexpected. I recommend not reading anything in advance as it would ruin what happens. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75"
"What an interesting perspective Horan puts on selfish, self centered adults who commit adultery during the Victorian era. Given what little information she had to use for the topic I enjoyed her interpretation of the scandalous love affair between FLW and Cheney. <br/><br/>Horan gives us a birds eye view of what it may have been like for this famous couple to have an affair during the late 1800's. This book is clearly written about a woman who chose love over familial duty. In an era where women were struggling to gain their rights Cheney did what was right for herself. Yes, it was selfish and at times hard to fathom that she would rather separate herself to be with her lover, live in poverty and move over seas than be with her kids. <br/><br/>I picked up this book because I like the twist in the story line. Read it for the love story it is and it won't disappoint."
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