Loving Frank: A Novel

by Nancy Horan
Loving Frank: A Novel  
published August 7th 2007 by Ballantine Books
binding Hardcover
isbn 0345494997   (isbn13: 9780345494993)
url http://www.lovingfrank.com
pages 384
characters Frank Lloyd Wright, Mamah Borthwick Cheney
setting United States
description 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 Bor...more
date added
05-15-07



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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2458)



Walt
Walt rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
06/23/08

Read in June, 2008
recommended to Walt by: reading group
recommends it for: anyone.
I like to read first published novels by authors, so when my reading group, comprised primarily of women, chose Loving Frank, I was looking forward to it. It didn't disappoint me. I enjoyed the narrative flow, which was smooth and calm as a river, even when it had exciting rapids. The story arced like a rainbow and climaxed like 24. It didn't seem written by a novice. I would say, "Great job, Nancy Horan."
Early in marriage, my wife and I moved from the West to the Midwest. We had l...more
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Schmacko
Schmacko rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
06/23/08

Read in June, 2008
I read Nancy Horan's debut book, because in a few days I will be up in Wisconsin very near some of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous works. Loving Frank is a somewhat-fictional account of the little-known feminist Mameh Borthwick Cheney and her 9-year affair with FLW. This relationship broke up two marriages and filled papers with scandal, as the couple ran away to Europe and then came to build their famous home, Taliesin, in Wisconsin.

Some books, I can concede are perfectly well-...more
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Jo
Jo rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
04/25/08

bookshelves: all-time-favorites-, chicksonlitgroupreads, finished-2008
Read in April, 2008
recommended to Jo by: Chicks on Lit!
recommends it for: Everyone!
First off, let me say that I doubt I would have heard of this book had it not been the April 2008 group read for the "Chicks on Lit" GoodReads club! Based on its' description, I wasn't entirely impressed but decided to give it a try! I was more encouraged after our local library director told me she'd read it and that it was well done and very interesting!

I picked up the book on April 1st and was done on April 7th! (That in and of itself says a lot! I don't know about you, but ...more
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Susan Wittig Albert
03/14/08

bookshelves: lifebased-fiction
Read in September, 2007
In 1972, I attended a conference at Frank Lloyd Wright's famous house, Taliesin, I've carried a vision of it ever since: its startlingly flat planes, the Oriental lines of its roofs, the way it snugs into the side of a Wisconsin hill. And indoors, the Zen-like simplicity of furnishings, the wide windows that open onto green landscape, and the glowing walls that seem to shimmer with their own inner light. I can understand why Mamah Borthwick Cheney fell in love with its architect and loved him wi...more
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  2 comments

Emily
Emily rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
06/30/08

bookshelves: biography-elements, just-finished
Read in June, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Susan
Susan rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
09/26/07

bookshelves: yomr
Read in September, 2007
Quite a rollercoaster - about midway through this book, I was completely inspired to DO THINGS. To be intellectual and well spoken and creative; in short, to not be just a mom, as I am most days. I thought Mamah was incredible; her self-discovery so moving.

But as the book progressed, I started to like her less and less. And Frank Lloyd Wright I never found an endearing character. Pompous ass, yes. I didn't think either of them were justified in their actions and I certainly couldn't get...more
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Gale
05/18/08

Read in May, 2008
Frank Lloyd Wright was commissioned to designed and built an Oak Park, IL house for Mamah and Edwin Cheney in 1903. Over the next few years Frank and Mamah became lovers. In 1909 they left their spouses and children to live and work in Europe. The public became outraged after their affair became fodder for journalists. Soon after their return from Europe, Frank began construction on a home (to be their refuge from prying eyes and censure) in Spring Green, WI where he had grown up. On August 15, ...more
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  3 comments

Sara
Sara rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
12/26/07

bookshelves: fiction
Read in December, 2007
recommends it for: Frank Lloyd Wright worshippers, anyone who enjoys a good narrative
Nancy Horan's fictionalized version of the true story of the affair between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney fills in the raw facts with well-researched context and beautifully expressed emotion.

Horan's exploration of Mamah's painful experiences as a renegade woman going against the Victorian ideals is touching and realistic. She does an excellent job of turning these real people into relatable characters and fleshes them out using letters, anecdotes with sensationalist news...more
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John
John rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
12/24/07

Read in December, 2007
Two people, selfish and completely self absorbed who flaunt convention and common sense while living their own self styled code of ethics “I want for me” A code invoked throughout their lifetimes with little consideration for the destruction, exploitation and pain caused for the adults and children left in their wake. 8 children and a niece who had already lost her own mother experienced directly the effects of this cavalier attitude toward responsibility. Fanciful thinking aside, I saw no...more
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Jodi
Jodi rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
06/21/08

Read in June, 2008
recommended to Jodi by: Tattered Cover staff (who else?)
recommends it for: FLW fans, historical fictionados
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Shannon
Shannon rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
06/25/08

Read in June, 2008
recommended to Shannon by: Jane Tesch
I was very disappointed by this book. In the past two years, Jason and I have toured two Frank Lloyd Wright homes and I took a modern architecture class in college that featured a ton of his work, so I thought I would enjoy a fictionalized glimpse of his personal life. I did enjoy reading about Taliesin and the Midway Gardens and how FLW incorporated thoughts from disparate cultures (Japanese, Italian, German) into his own creations.

What I didn't like was Mamah, who was unfortunately the m...more
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Laurel
Laurel marked it as to-read
11/16/07

bookshelves: historical-fiction, to-read
Book Description (from Amazon.com)
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...more
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Susanne
Read in June, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Kim
Kim rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
02/25/08

bookshelves: historical-fiction
Read in February, 2008
recommended to Kim by: My book club friends
recommends it for: Mothers, Frank Lloyd Wright fans, Oak Parkers, Book Clubs
I really liked this book for the WAY it was written. I thought it was well done, especially with the available information (not much at all about the actual relationship).

That said, I did not like Mamah's character at all. I felt she was a selfish and misguided lost soul. The upside is that she found her perfect match in Frank Lloyd Wright.

The book is set in the first decade of the 1900's in Oak Park, IL as the Women's Movement is gathering steam, about a thirty-something mother of tw...more
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Katherine
Katherine rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
11/30/07

Read in November, 2007
recommends it for: Fans of Frank Lloyd Wright, architecture and the Women's Movement
Awesome book--especially as a debut novel! The last 50 pages took me by surprise and kept me glued until the very end! I didn't know anything about Mamah Borthwick and knew very little about Frank Lloyd Wright, so it was surprising to read what happens in the end. If anything, Horan's narrative technique in the last 50 pages made the book for me.

Don't be fooled by the title, though. This book is so much more than a story about an illicit love affair and the scandal it caused--and so much mor...more
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Stephanie
Stephanie rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
01/21/08

bookshelves: badgirls, greatfnwriting
Read in January, 2008
recommended to Stephanie by: book club selection
recommends it for: anybody who is ready to pack it in for La Vie Boheme
Never have I been so pleasantly surprised by a book as I have by Loving Frank. Although I was familiar with Frank Lloyd Wright's work when I read this, I had no idea how fascinating his personal life was. Apparently, the guy had a knack for luring women away from their home and families. This book is about the most fascinating of his many mistresses, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. What made an erudite mother of two leave her family and exalted social status to live in the wilds of Wisconsin with...more
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Andrea
Andrea rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
09/26/07

bookshelves: fiction
Read in August, 2007
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Ginnie
Ginnie rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
05/27/08

bookshelves: biography, family, fiction
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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  3 comments

Courtney<