Loving Frank is one of the best books I have read in a while. This has a lot to with that whole sense of suspense and treading new ground.
I like to think of myself as a pretty well informed kind of guy. I know all kinds of useless stuff. George Washington was the first President. Carson City is the Capitol of Nevada. 1+1=2.
But when it comes to the world of 1907 to 1914, well, I don’t know Jack. This is the time period covered in the rather amazing Loving Frank about Mamah Borthwick and Frank Lloyd Wright. Amazing in that it is a powerful story involving an historic figure, Frank Wright, that I am pretty fond of, but it turns out, know absolutely nothing about. In a hundred years people will still be talking Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton, so how come know one talks about Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick?
Loving Frank is the story of Mamah Borthwick and her relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright. With the exception of Frank Lloyd Wright this is cast of characters that are almost totally unknown to me. Chef among the famous people I have never heard of is Ellen Key, a feminist who believed that a woman’s place was with her children. Mentioned in passing are countless rich and important people who have dealings with Frank Lloyd Wright-none of their names rang any bells either. But the most important real person I never heard of was, of course, Mamah Borthwick herself.
Mamah and Frank were both married and each had several children when they meet, fell in love, and ran off to Europe for a year. They are happy, but they still have responsibilities. At the end of the year, Frank goes back to his wife. But he soon enough seeks out Mamah again and they step off on that trail to Happily Ever After you would expect with a world famous genius.
Loving Frank is not just a story of Frank Lloyd Wright, it is the story of Mamah Borthwick-Translator, Feminist, Genius in her own right. If the story in Loving Frank is to be believed, she was the inspiration of Taliesin and most of the more playful designs of Frank Lloyd Wright. She is also the driving force that stopped him from being years ahead of his time by being over his head in debt at all times.
Joyce Bean, the reader of the audiobook version of Loving Frank, does a brilliant job of bring these dynamic and amazing people to life. The shocking ending is well done and, since I knew nothing of the story, truly shocking to me. If you decide to read Loving Frank resist the temptation to Google Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick. This is a novel based on true events and as with the best historical novels it reads like living history.
I have been to Falling Water and The Price Tower and a number of smaller Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. I have flipped through a lot of books of his designs and blueprints. The man that comes to mind for me is in his last years with snow white hair and failing health. So the young and vibrant Frank Lloyd Wright who falls in love with Mamah Borthwick and dares to envision a brave new world of free love is a total revelation.
Loving Frank is the kind of story that leaves you wondering what if and makes you wish you had a time machine to go back and see Taliesin when it was new.
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