Loving Frank

In another life, I think I would have been an architect. In fact, that was the first thing I wanted to be when I was young. But I thought, with my utter inability to draw, that I couldn't be one. So I took another path.

As an adult, my appreciation of architecture continued to grow. And although I still can't tell a Doric column from a Corinthian one, I know a Frank Lloyd Wright building when I see one.

I don't remember when I first learned of Wright, but I remember clearly how I felt the first time I saw the Guggenheim Musuem in New York. Walking its spiral ramp, seeing artwork in that light, I thought, the man was indeed a genius.


Through books and pictures, I saw more of the man's work. A few years back, I visited my first Wright house, the Robie House, in Chicago.

Next month, I'm going to Taliesin. Wright built this dream house for his long-time lover, Mamah Cheney. While this was the place where the two of them could live in peace (they were both married to other people), it too was the site of their love's tragic end. Mamah died in Taliesin, as one of the victims of a fire set by a deranged servant. Today, it's the home of the Wright Foundation.


Do you love Frank? Re-imagine his love affair with Mamah in the historical novel "Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan.