LOVING FRANK by Nancy Horan, 2007.

A beautifully written novel about the scandalous love affair between the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney, which shocked and dismayed the Chicago-Oak Park area, as both were married when they began their affair. Covering the years 1907-1914, Horan easily draws the reader into the lives of her characters and gets him involved. After the initial shock and several years' separation, Mamah's husband Edwin divorced her and then remarried, and Mamah and Frank, whose wife Catherine refused to divorce him, lived in Europe. They live together off and on, each return to the States, live in Japan during a job Frank has there, and eventually settle at Frank's creative dream home--a fabulous, nature-inspired house, Taleisin, in Wisconsin. Horan does a wonderful job of dramatizing the many doubts and worries the couple encountered in themselves and each other: financial woes, emotional problems, issues with each set of children, Mamah's determination to use her knowledge and education to make her own mark, Frank's self-centeredness, Mamah's ruined relations with her beloved sister Lizzie and the anguish each felt about living their lives in the manner they chose. Horan's writing style is graceful, beautifully descriptive, and flows smoothly. Her portrayals of Mamah and Frank are realistic and thought-provoking and complex. Overall, it's a fascinating, engrossing read about two very passionate people who found each other and created a lurid scandal by wanting to be together, the tough choices they were forced to make in order to do so, and the terrible tragedy that befell them both. A tremendously worthwhile read. I highly recommend it.