I've decided to keep track of everything I read this year. I started 2011 a few pages into a book Matt gave me for Christmas. It's called Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. I have wanted it for a long time - ever since it was recommended to me by my aunt. I've now finished 164 of its 356 pages. So far, I like it.
It is considered fiction, but it is an account of the real life affair between Mamah Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright in the early 1900's. She and her husband hired him to design a home for them in 1903 and that is where their story starts. What amazes me is the way this affair rocked the world of all the people around them - not just their families, but random people in the city of Oak Park, Illinois. Once word of their affair was public, they were outcasts - she feared being unable to get a job or see her children, he was afraid he would not be hired to design buildings and that his wife wouldn't grant him a divorce. The times were different and this was new territory.
There is a strong thread of feminisim throughout the novel - Mamah constantly thinking about her changing role as a wife and mother, a romantic partner, a citizen, etc. This was a beginning to women's rights and it's interesting to see those beginnings through the eyes of a woman who was living it, and who valued her independence much more than her peers.
And granted, I'm not finished yet, but I like these "characters" so far - both Mamah and Frank have made choices that have hurt other people and changed their lives forever. But despite their choices I can't hate these two.
The website for the book is fantastic - pictures, background information, letters, an interview with the author and much more. This whole topic has peaked my interest. Anyone want to take a road trip to Oak Park, Illinois to check out the setting in real life? Take a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio? I do!
It is considered fiction, but it is an account of the real life affair between Mamah Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright in the early 1900's. She and her husband hired him to design a home for them in 1903 and that is where their story starts. What amazes me is the way this affair rocked the world of all the people around them - not just their families, but random people in the city of Oak Park, Illinois. Once word of their affair was public, they were outcasts - she feared being unable to get a job or see her children, he was afraid he would not be hired to design buildings and that his wife wouldn't grant him a divorce. The times were different and this was new territory.
There is a strong thread of feminisim throughout the novel - Mamah constantly thinking about her changing role as a wife and mother, a romantic partner, a citizen, etc. This was a beginning to women's rights and it's interesting to see those beginnings through the eyes of a woman who was living it, and who valued her independence much more than her peers.
And granted, I'm not finished yet, but I like these "characters" so far - both Mamah and Frank have made choices that have hurt other people and changed their lives forever. But despite their choices I can't hate these two.
The website for the book is fantastic - pictures, background information, letters, an interview with the author and much more. This whole topic has peaked my interest. Anyone want to take a road trip to Oak Park, Illinois to check out the setting in real life? Take a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio? I do!
I'm in on the tour...I've always wanted to see something by him :)
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