Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

This is the second book I have recently read about Frank Lloyd Wright. The other was The Women by T.C. Boyle which told the tales of three of Frank's love affairs subsequent to his first marriage to Catherine, the mother of six of his children.

Loving Frank is all about the second woman in his life, Mamah Borthwick, the wife of a client who had hired Frank to be the architect for a home in Oak Park, Illinois. Frank and Catherine also lived in Oak Park. Mamah's husband was Edgar, and they had two small children. She leaves Edgar for Frank and this is her story.

Obviously, some of the material in these two books cover the same characters and historical time, but both are compelling, well written, descriptive stories. Frank and Mamah were subjected to intense societal pressures but slowly were accepted by the farming community around Taliesin in Wisconsin. Still, their lives were very difficult at times, especially for Mamah. Although she was an early feminist, there are never simple solutions to the reality of abandoning a kind and considerate husband, along with two small children, of loving a difficult, highly creative, driven artist, of finding time to pursue her own literary efforts of writing and translating. Mamah was beautiful and educated and is portrayed in this book as a kind and deeply caring woman. Of course she will always be in the shadow of FLW, but she was also a strong character and this portrait of their lives together is a tribute to her.