I found the personality of Mamah Borthwick to be somewhat elusive in Nancy Horan's portrait of her, Loving Frank, probably due to the paucity of historical information. I wanted to know Mamah and like her but couldn't quite grasp what Frank Lloyd Wright found so compelling about her. Was she warm, animated, brilliant? What were her faults? Was she tortured by guilt? Certainly in this novel she was, as exemplified by her reaction to the Faustian opera. Wright, on the other hand, was more vivid, with his arrogant charm and nonchalance with regard to bill paying. Also, the line between fact and fiction was blurred here, and I was curious as to whether Mattie's fate and even Mamah's visit to Boulder were based on fact. We know that Mamah followed her heart to the detriment of her family and had to wear a virtual scarlet letter for her behavior, skewered by the press and acquaintances alike. For me, though, this love story did not jump off the page. I expected an unfortunate outcome, but the super-tragic ending shocked and saddened me, just the same.
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