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Loving Frank (Lloyd Wright) ~ Nancy Horan ~ May 1st
BooksAdmin:
Before the publication of Loving Frank in 2007, few details were known about the love affair between Martha (nicknamed Mamah) Borthwick Cheney and the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The two met in 1903 when Mamah and Edwin H. Cheney commissioned Wright to design a new home for them. The strong attraction between Mamah and her Frank led to a very publicly conducted affair that scandalized Oak Park, Illinois. Shunned by society, haunted by the press, the lovers decamped to Paris in 1909, leaving behind their spouses and children. They lived abroad for a year. Scholars have relegated Mamah to a footnote in the long, tumultuous life of America's greatest architect.
Loving Frank is based on years of solid research that has unearthed letters, diary entries, and newspaper headlines. With remarkable restraint and great sensitivity, Nancy Horan has blended the known facts with novelistic imagination to create a compelling narrative of a dramatic, ultimately tragic love story. Rich in period detail, the story is told in Mamah's voice and vividly portrays the conflicts of a woman struggling to reconcile the roles of wife, mother, lover, and intellectual one hundred years ago.
Please join us for the May discussion. ~ Ann & Traude Links
Brief Biography of Frank Lloyd Wright
Taliesin - Slide show
Chicago Landmarks
Save Wright (Preservation)
Frank Lloyd Wright & Mamah Cheney]
The Edwin Cheney house - photos with Nancy Horan
Discussion Divisions
---Part One -- May 1st-May 10th
---Part Two -- May 11th-May 21st
---Part Three -- May 22nd-May 31st
Questions to Consider ~Part Two
1. What do you think of the relationship between our two lovers, now that they will be living together, on the ship and in Europe?
2. Do you find it hard to read much of Frank's reaction to Mamah's devistation over the headlines in the home newpapers?
3. Mamah is free and she wants to take advantage of this new found freedom. Would we all feel this way, in this situation?
4. How does Catherine's response to the journalists who question her make you feel? Do you have empathy for her?
5. And after reading Edwin letter to Mamah, did you feel sorry for him?
6. The death of Mattie has really saddened Mamah. Wouldn't we all feel this way? Have you lost an old and dear friend in the past few years? Or did you lose one early in your life?
7 Are we being told early on that Mamah has a drinking or drug problem?
Discussion Leaders: Ann & Traude
ANNIE:
Welcome, readers!
We are opening early just in case someone wants to comment early. Due to previous arrangements, I will be gone on Saturday and Sunday so am leaving the schedule up for you. I have asked Traude to take my place for the weekend but if she is not here due to other circumstances, please feel free to answer the questions and comment and maybe ask some questions of your own. See you all on Sunday night, if the creek don't rise and the good Lord's willin'.
maryz:
I'll be checking in.
ANNIE:
Oh, its so good to see you, MaryZ,
Did you receive my email about the discussion?? I am off to the post office but will return soon.
JoanP:
Can't you just see trouble brewing in the marriage in the opening chapters? Mamah doesn't even see it coming - - seems to be blaming poor Edwin simply for being himself - kind, content with simple things - (boring and predictable?) How can she help from being critical or at least, uncomfortable with her life with Ed, when the architect (commissioned by Ed) pronounces - "We are ourselves what we appreciate, and no more." Right away we know FLW has her full attention.
From the book jacket, quoted here in the heading -
--- Quote ---While scholars have largely relegated Mamah to a footnote in the life of America's greatest architect, author Nancy Horan gives full weight to their dramatic love story...
--- End quote ---
Yesterday's Washington Post ran a huge article in the Home section on books written on FLW - 50th anniversary of his death. I'll try to find the link later - but I found this interesting -
--- Quote ---There were of course, the turbulant relationships with women such as Maude Miriam Novel and Olgivanna Hinzenberg...Rizzoli
--- End quote ---
No mention of Mamah?
Will be watching closely to see if she was just another conquest among many - or if the architect is as smitten with Mamah as Horan will have us believe.
Edwin commissioned FLW to build a house for the family in IL. Did he ever build it? Is it still standing?
This should be a fascinating discussion...
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