Finished late last night: FIGURES IN SILK by Vanora Bennett, 2009.
Fine, smoothly written narrative, with plenty of period details, set during the period after the Wars of the Roses. The story concerns the Lambert sisters, Isabel and Jane, each of whom becomes the mistress of a king. Jane, who marries and divorces Will Shore, becomes the mistress of King Edward IV. Isabel becomes unknowingly acquainted with Richard of Gloucester, just before her marriage to Thomas Claver. Later, they meet again under other circumstances, and she eventually becomes Richard's mistress. The majority of the story follows Isabel, who, after her husband's untimely demise, chooses to apprentice herself to her mother-in-law, the hard-nosed silkwoman Alice Claver. Isabel has ambitions to break the Lombards' hold on the silk making industry in England and to found her own silk making house. To that end, she establishes connections and forms a network which eventually leads her to ask King Edward for the funds and assistance to set her plans in motion.When Edward dies suddenly, leaving the English throne to his young son, and England is thrown into the turmoil of Richard III, Isabel's life changes dramatically and completely, as does Jane's. I enjoyed Bennett's previous book Portrait of an Unknown Woman very much, but found this novel to be rather slow going and almost tedious in spots. In my opinion, Jane was the more interesting character, and I would have liked more of her story. I did enjoy Bennett's portrayals, however brief, of both Elizabeth Woodville and young Elizabeth of York. A good read, just not as good as I had hoped it would be.

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.