Dinner & A Book - Loving Frank

From Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural beginnings in Oak Park, Illinois, to his fabled Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin, his life was turbulent but consistent. His client, May -mah Borthwick Cheney, accompanied Frank to Germany. Both left spouses and children. To learn more about this period in the life of May-mah Borthwick Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright from 1907 to 1914, let’s meet my guest, Linda Lucchesi, as we discuss Nancy Horan’s "Loving Frank" while preparing a fall Wisconsin garden meal.

Horan's ambitious first novel is a fictionalization of the life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, best known as the woman who wrecked Frank Lloyd Wright's first marriage. Despite the title, this is not a romance, but a portrayal of an independent, educated woman at odds with the restrictions of the early 20th century. Frank and Mamah, both married and with children, met when Mamah's husband, Edwin, commissioned Frank to design a house. Their affair became the stuff of headlines when they left their families to live and travel together, going first to Germany, where Mamah found rewarding work doing scholarly translations of Swedish feminist Ellen Key's books. Frank and Mamah eventually settled in Wisconsin, where they were hounded by a scandal-hungry press, with tragic repercussions. Horan puts considerable effort into recreating Frank's vibrant, overwhelming personality, but her primary interest is in Mamah, who pursued her intellectual interests and love for Frank at great personal cost.