Loving Frank

by Nancy Horan


Reviewed by Mudqueen

Loving Frank is about the love affair between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney, both of whom were married to other people at the time. The book is written from Mamah's point of view. The author, Nancy Horan, uses a clear, concise manner of writing that makes this book a quick read.

Most of the story revolves around the affair and the sacrifices made by both parties. In the first decades of the twentieth century in Chicago, this sort of thing made the headlines. Mamah is the central character, and the author very skillfully fleshes out her personality and garners the readers' sympathy for her and her struggle in a society where a wife was just a husband's possession. Those hoping to learn more about Frank Lloyd Wright will be disappointed, but the book is an interesting read about human relationships during that era.

More about Loving Frank from Powell's Books


Another novel about Frank Lloyd Wright:

The Women by T.C. Boyle, about the many women in Wright's life.
More info


Other historical novels set in Chicago:

Passing by Samaria by Sharon Ewell Foster, about a young black woman in 1919. More info

Prairie Avenue by Arthur Meeker, about wealthy Chicagoans in the late nineteenth century. Review


Nonfiction about Frank Lloyd Wright:

Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders by William R. Drennan. More info

Many Masks: A Life of Frank Lloyd Wright by Brendan Gill. More info

Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography by Meryl Secrest. More info

My Father, Frank Lloyd Wright by John Lloyd Wright. More info

Autobiography by Frank Lloyd Wright. More info


Back to Twentieth Century North America

Back to Directory of Book Reviews




Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.