While this certainly gives us a picture of the times, in terms of women's rights and an idea of the man (FLW), it does so in a way that simply dragged out too long for me. ( )

This true life novel is about the mistress of the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It is not only a romantic tale but also the story of the life of an independent woman at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is wonderfully told by the author and describes many of Frank LLoyd Wright's project in detail so that you can't help but become curious and look at pictures of "Talisien" and "Midway Gardens". ( )

A great read, extremely well-written and well-researched. If it were not historical fiction I would never have believed the ending and would have thought the author went over the top.

“Loving Frank” is lighting up book club meetings everywhere and for good reason – there’s so much within its pages to talk about, from the historical basis to the characterization to broader themes about society, feminism and adultery.

I knew nothing about Frank Lloyd Wright before I started reading Nancy Horan’s “Loving Frank”. I’m somewhat embarrassed to say that, as I live in the Buffalo, NY, area where we actually have the Darwin-Martin House and Graycliff, both designed by Wright, and neither of which I’ve ever seen. What is it they say about missing what’s in your own backyard? I didn’t know, therefore, that Wright left his first wife to have an affair with early feminist, and wife of one of his clients, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. Mamah eventually divorced her husband, but Wright’s wife would not agree to the same. I won’t go into too many other specifics of how it all ended up so as not to ruin the book for anyone, but after traveling in Europe, they spent many years in Wisconsin, building and living in their home and Frank’s studio, Taliesin.

“Loving Frank” is not a love story, nor is it ultimately about Frank Lloyd Wright, though a neophyte like me does learn a great deal about him. Instead it is exactly what the title says: the story of Mamah Borthwick’s life as it was shaped by the fact that, for good or ill, she fell in love with Frank Lloyd Wright. Mamah gives up everything to be with Frank: her marriage, her standing, and most painfully, her children, at least for many years. She suffers scorn and scandal, and deals with bouts of self-recrimination. And she also learns that loving Frank has other costs. Frank is generous, passionate and tender, but also egotistical, arrogant and irresponsible.

I was very much struck at some of the plot and thematic similarities between Horan’s historical novel and “Anna Karenina”, an avowed favorite of mine. Like Anna, some of Mamah’s choices may be difficult for readers to understand. Like Vronsky, Frank does not always come across as deserving of so much sacrifice. We are put in a similar position of not always liking our protagonist very much, nor the object of her affection, and it would be easy to translate this into saying we don’t like the book itself. But that was certainly not my reaction, either time. Tolstoy, after all, purposely gives us other characters to love. And Horan’s storytelling, here, is so compelling that you can’t help but follow Mamah on her path, even if you wish she’d chosen another one. ( )

Cette histoire, quand on sait qu'elle est vraie, est passionnante et est digne des meilleurs scénarios de film. Mais j'ai trouvé les personnages du roman ternes et un peu fades. Je n'ai pas réussi à m'attacher à eux. Pas beaucoup d'émotions dans ce roman. ( )