Sarala Kron (USA: IL) (2009/08/12): I found this book an interesting tale and enjoyed learning details of Frank Lloyd Wright's life but thought as a novel it was only a bit above average. Still worth the read for the historical details. TypicalToo (USA: CA) (2015/12/05): My sister's book club read this book and she had talked about it to me before I read it. I had never heard of this part of Frank Lloyd Wright's history, despite touring several FLW houses and visiting his studio in Oak Park, etc. It is of interest, though very hard to fathom what really went on in these people's heads. The tragic ending is as mysterious in retrospect as it must have been then. I think the author fails to anchor the story within the greater context of the social ferment of the era prior to the first world war and bolshevik revolution. I was very struck with the similarity to the movie and story "Reds", which chronicles Louise Bryant's like with Joh Reed. She was also a middle class housewife of the era who ran off with a brilliant writer. Mamah Cheney is a middle class housewife who runs off with a brilliant architect a decade earlier, but seems to endure a great deal more public vilification and censure. Both these women wanted more out of life intellectually and were attracted to men with big ideas and ideals in contrast to the solid citizen husbands they abandoned. Both struggled to have careers based on their own merits rather than become caretakers and helpmeets of their brilliant men. The story has a universality that still resonates, but the book fails to engage. So little is known of Mamah Cheney. Almost all of her personal writings except for a few letters were destroyed in the tragedy that took her life. The author fails to consistently give her a strong voice of her own. FLW was such an enduring figure in architecture and lived so long beyond Mamah Cheney she became just a footnote in his story. She had to deserve more and the author tries to fill that gap. It's a mostly imagined history based on research. The books readable, but just can't really connect to the character.
