MADreads

Affair with a flawed man

September 4th, 2007 Emily - Lakeview

Nancy Horan’s first novel is titled Loving Frank and it details architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s affair with mother, writer and translator Mamah Borthwick.  Although this is a work of fiction, it is based on historical facts and much of the novel takes place in Spring Green, Wisconsin as Taliesin was built as a home for Mamah and Frank.  The novel spans many years starting with Mamah’s husband Edward Cheney hiring Wright to design a new house for his family.  It is during this time that Mamah becomes a close confidant for Frank and they start their affair.  Beautifully written and heartbreaking, this novel is a great read that presents the main characters as people who are in love despite the societal pressures to keep them apart.  Descriptions of Mamah’s conflict between her life as a married woman who is devoted to her children and and a life with Frank working as a translator of great feminist works are well written and complex.  Mamah sees her life as having to choose between a life of domesticity and a career.  This is complex enough to make the reader also question the best path.  As has been detailed in many works, Wright was not well liked in Wisconsin (Isthmus article) and this novel does not sugarcoat the facts that Frank Lloyd Wright didn’t pay his bills and was not well received in Spring Green, especially by the local newspapers who hounded Mamah and Frank at Taliesin.  If you’re looking for a beautifully written Wisconsin-themed historical novel with a strong main character, this one’s for you.

Entry Filed under: Historical Fiction