Debut Novel of a Chicago Author
Nancy Horan’s inspiration for her debut novel, Loving Frank, published by Random House, Inc. in 2007 (Trade Paperback published by Ballantine Books Trade Paperback Edition in 2008 with ISBN 978-0-345-49500-6), came from her 24 years of living in Oak Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb often associated with Frank Lloyd Wright.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio in Illinois attract many visitors, as do the houses he designed in the neighborhood. One of the houses that drew Horan’s attention, partly because it was on her street, was the home of Mamah Borthwick Cheney. According to her interview with the Random House Readers Circle in the back of the trade paperback version of the novel and on the Random House website, Horan researched the history of Cheney’s relationship with Wright through newspaper articles, neighbors’ memoirs, and letters Cheney wrote to her mentor in Sweden.
Complicated Relationships
From Mamah (pronounced May-mah) Bothwick Cheney’s point of view, Horan tells the story of Mamah and her husband Edwin, who hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design and build a house for their family in Oak Park. The book focuses, however, on the relationship between Mamah and Frank, which began as a close friendship during the design process and led to an affair that scandalized Oak Park and shadowed Frank’s early career.
Horan describes the conflicts Mamah must have faced as she struggled to come to terms with her feelings for a married man, her struggle for self-identification, and her relationships with her friends, children, and husband. Mamah had been a writer and active in the early women’s rights movement in the United States during college, but by the time she met Frank, had settled into a traditional homemaker role. The difference between her earlier activism and current situation may have been a contributing factor to Mamah finding Frank’s artistic enthusiasm so appealing.
The novel tracks the historical events of Mamah and Frank requesting divorces, leaving for Europe, and fighting the scandal generated by the American press. Although Horan works to make Mamah a sympathetic character, largely by explaining her motivations in leaving her family and suburban life behind, the book does not try to minimize the costs Mamah paid for the choices she made. It also does not sugar-coat the damage her decisions made on her relationships with friends, her sister, and her children, in addition to her marriage.
Contemporary Themes
The issues Horan raises in Loving Frank are presented in a historical setting, but concerns about women’s ability to direct their own futures, find meaningful work, and express themselves as the equal of the men in their lives continue to be debated and discussed today. In addition, the novel discusses issues such as dual-income families, child care, and the conflicts that can arise between work and motherhood.
Through the character of Ellen Key, a Swedish feminist philosopher who was Mamah’s mentor, Horan explores the ideas of individual rights and the need to reform society’s views of marriage and divorce. As Horan says in her Random House interview, “While researching Mamah’s story, I as struck repeatedly by how similar the struggles of early twentieth century women were compared to those of women today.”
Horan also shows the struggles people face when trying to balance their personal interests with relationships and obligations to others. These conflicts are realistically described and relate to today’s readers as directly as they did to Frank, Mamah and her other characters.
Additional author interviews and pictures of the architecture described in the book can be found at the Random House website.
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