Book of the Month–July 2012 |

This is a fictionalized account of the relationship between Mamah Borthwick Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright.

The couple met after Mamah and her husband Edwin Cheney contracted the architect to design their new home (pictured below). Although Wright was also married, he and Mamah began a passionate and highly publicized affair that shocked Chicago high society. With her reputation destroyed and his career damaged, Mamah and Frank left their respective families to live together in Europe amid the public frenzy.

In Europe the couple found privacy and acceptance of their relationship. Mamah, an early feminist, had an outlet for her intellectual interests, working as a translator for feminist writer Ellen Key. Although Mamah was happy in Europe, Frank convinced her to return to the United States–a decision that would have tragic consequences.

Loving Frank is also available in these formats:
eBook
eAudiobook

Read an excerpt

Acknowledgements and Awards
2009: James Fenimore Cooper Prize (Historical American Fiction)

Book Reviews
Christian Science Monitor
The Independent
New York Times

About the Author
Nancy Horan was a journalist before she became a novelist. After taking fiction writing courses she was inspired to write about Mamah Borthwick and Frank Lloyd Wright, the most notorious residents of Oak Park, IL, where Horan lived for 24 years. The novel took 7 years to complete. Horan spent much time exhaustively researching her subjects and completed an initial draft of the novel written from the perspective of four different characters before deciding to focus on Mamah as the soul narrator.