This book took me a bit to get into, but once I was embroiled in the stories of Frank Lloyd Wright and his women, I was hooked. The talent, the temerity of this bold, talented, seductive "mama's boy" as he swept onto the Wisconsin plains to build Taliesen and move in his mother, his assistants and his successive paramours. Boyle's energetic descriptions and the breadth of the story match Wright's own movements as we traipse back (and forth) in time to learn more about the passionate, self-absorbed architect, the land, the work and of course each of his women, Kitty, Mamah, Miriam and Olgivanna, as told by Tadashi Sato, a Japanese apprentice architect at Taliesen.

Note: compelling video for paperback edition of this book: http://vimeo.com/8664528 ( )

The story of Frank Lloyd Wright is told by a Japanese apprentice to him, through the lens of the 4 women with whom he had long term relationships. Based on real events, but fictionalized. An interesting way to look at Wright's life. Living so close to Taliesen, but never having visited, this book makes me want to go. ( )

Tried reading this two times. Not my bag, man. ( )

The women
The women of the title are the wives and mistress of renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. I have read Loving Frank about Mamah Borthwick, his mistress during his marriage to Kitty (Catherine Tobin). The other wives are Miriam Noël Wright and Olgivanna Milanoff.
This is historical fiction and Boyle uses a character called Tadashi Sato, a Japanese immigrant, who was one of Wright’s apprentices at Taliesin to provide the narrative. He is assisted periodically by Seamus O’Flaherty. It’s well done.
Tadashi arrives at Taliesin in 1932 as an architectural apprentice to Wright but in reality the program provides free labour for Wright and his family. He stays for eight years and provides a very good description of the man who may be a genius but is also a con artist, a philanderer, perhaps a sociopath who abused the trust of everyone, especially the women in his life.
The bulk of the story focuses on his second wife Miriam who Wright married after the horrible death of Mamah and six others in the murder and fire at Taliesin in 1914. Miriam is portrayed as a a nut case given to temper tantrums and violence when displeased or ignored. She was a sculptor who lived in Paris before meeting Wright. The marriage lasted a year because of Miriam’s addiction to morphine and her mental instability. By this stage, Wright has met Olgivanna Milanoff and had another child with her. Miriam fights tooth and nail and lures the media into the salacious details of her life with Frank and his life with Olgivanna.
Kitty Wright is portrayed as a good person who is trying to keep her children housed, fed, educated and loved as Frank abandons her for Mamah. Kitty takes the high road and struggles to run the household on credit and keeps her dignity among the friends and neighbours in Oak Park. She refuses to give Frank a divorce.
Mamah is the last woman in the story and the focus is primarily on her life with Frank at Taliesin as she works on translating the work of her mentor, Swedish feminist Ellen Key.
Olgivanna is the brains behind the apprenticeship program and she runs the household, outbuildings and family as Wright creates and builds around the world.
Frank and his women are free spirits who disdain anyone who disagrees with their morals and lifestyles which given the times, early 20th century was pretty wild. Very well written, character development is excellent. ( )

I read Loving Frank a few years ago and was really interested in learning more about Frank Lloyd Wright's many relationships. The story was told from the point of view of one of his apprentices and was very interesting to a point. It was just too long and at some point about 3/4 of the way through I just didn't care anymore and stopped reading. ( )