Were We Right or Were We Right?

by Publishers Weekly -- Publishers Weekly, 9/27/2007 6:20:00 AM

Nearly every major newspaper in the country agreed that Nancy Horan's Loving Frank was worth noting, almost 100 years after Frank Lloyd Wright's explosive affair with a then-unknown woman first hit the papers.

Here's PW's take: 
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. As is often the case when a life story is novelized, historical fact inconveniently intrudes: Mamah's life is cut short in the most unexpected and violent of ways, leaving the narrative to crawl toward a startlingly quiet conclusion. Nevertheless, this spirited novel brings Mamah the attention she deserves as an intellectual and feminist.  

Janet Maslin in the New York Times called it "a transporting drama." 

USA Today found it "a sedate read" that is nonetheless "perfect" for book clubs.

Meg Wolitzer summed it up in the Washington Post as having "impressive scope and ambition."

The Christian Science Monitor, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Sun-Times and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch also weighed in.

(For a more visual take on this architectural romance, see PW's discussion of the cover art.)

Who got it right? Was it Maslin or Wolitzer or someone else? Who do you agree with and why? Click the "talkback" tab and let us know what you think.