Loving Frank

In 1907, Mamah Cheney arrives late to the Nineteenth Century Woman’s Club to listen to Frank Lloyd Wright speak. He explains how “[o]rnament is not about prettifying the outside of something” (10). Slowly, every woman in the room comes to appreciate his vision. At the end of Frank’s talk, Mamah waits for him, mentioning that she and Ed want a garage designed by him. He comments that he’s missed their conversations since finishing her house, and she agrees.

As Mamah goes home, she remembers moving into the new house in 1904. On that day, Ed was excited, but she felt like something was coming to an end. In the present, once inside the house, she chastises herself for seeing Frank, convincing herself that she’ll cancel the garage plan she made—but knows she won’t.

The next morning, Ed goes to Milwaukee for business, and Mamah stays home with her two children, John and Martha, and her sister, Lizzie. Lizzie decides to take the children to the store, leaving Mamah home alone.

At home, Mamah questions why she invited Frank over. During the construction of Mamah and Ed’s house in 1904, she and the architect grew close through conversation and collaboration. They both feel like outsiders, and Mamah feels their discussions are different from the ones she has with her husband. When she realizes she saves things to tell Frank, she knows “they’[ve] grown too close” (17).

Getting into the bath, Mamah remembers a day in 1904 when the house was near completion. Frank came over, and she shared paintings of family members and other artifacts from her past. She revealed that despite her excitement over her father’s interest in nature, her mother wanted to ensure that she was a “proper lady.” As a result, Mamah threw herself into books. She and Frank also discovered they were born only days apart. Frank commented that he was young when he married his wife, Catherine.

Soon after, Frank took Mamah to see other garages he built. He explained that he left architecture school because he wanted to incorporate nature in his architecture and ended up as an apprentice to famous architect Louis Sullivan. He hoped to “mak[e] houses that speak of this prairie land rather than some French duke’s notion of what a house should look like” (20). After sharing his history, Frank and Mamah admitted to their marriage troubles. Two days later, Mamah realized she was pregnant and told Frank; he went on to pursue other women. In the present, Mamah gets out of her bath and prepares to meet Frank.

Frank arrives, and Mamah and him talk about the romantic tension between them. Mamah describes once seeing another woman charm Frank and wanting to have been the one to do so. When Frank says he has only fallen in love with a client once, he is referring to her, and they sleep together.

During the summer, Frank visits Mamah regularly, playing with her children when they can’t be alone. When Frank begins working in an office in Chicago, their affair becomes easier. They try to be as inconspicuous as possible, driving out to the country at times. Frank tells Mamah about being inspired by the Japanese approach to nature; however, he hates when other people say he was influenced by something, arguing that everything ultimately comes from his imagination. He gives her a print of Japanese art.

Visiting Frank and Catherine’s house one night with Ed, Mamah leaves early, claiming sickness. At home, she longs for something beyond being a mother; during meetings at the Nineteenth Century Woman’s Club, she wonders about women’s careers. Overall, her affair brings her joy, and Ed notices her happiness. Mamah later admits to Frank that she loves him. In August of 1907, she writes in her diary, “I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current” (35).

In 1908, Frank reveals Catherine is aware of his and Mamah’s affair. He asks for a divorce, but Catherine wants a year to try and fix their marriage. Mamah is upset, and over time, she believes he has ultimately returned to his wife. When New Year’s comes, she resolves that all will sort itself out—but can’t stop thinking about Frank.

The chapter opens with a letter from 1909, inviting Mamah and her children to stay with her college roommate, Mattie. Waiting for Frank in a field outside of town, Mamah remembered how excited she was to see Mattie. She was sitting down to reply to her friend when Frank arrived that morning with another man, who was trying to convince him to open a practice in Germany.

In the present, Frank appears in the field, and Mamah berates him for not getting in touch with her sooner. He replies that he feels uninspired in his work and that people are starting to imitate him, albeit the “wrong” parts of his style. People in Germany have recruited him, including a publisher who wants to include some of his work in a monograph. If Frank were to accept this offer, he would be away in Germany for a year. He invites Mamah to come with him, but she refuses, saying she needs time to figure out what is right for her.

Mamah wishes Ed wasn’t so kind to her. She fears others already know about her affair and resolves to tell him. When she confides in her sister, Lizzie, she realizes she already knows. Lizzie encourages Mamah to use the trip to see Mattie to consider her situation, and Mamah requests to stay longer.

At the train station, Ed is furious, as Mamah told him about Frank. Ed is upset that she has still decided to go to Boulder, Colorado, with Mattie for a few months. As Mamah and her children exit the station, she mentally replays her confession to Ed and the silence that followed. As they travel, she talks to her children about her family. She explains that she’d dragged a chair and rug to the field near her home in Boone, Iowa, and when the prairie grass grew, it felt like a private room. Riding a train always makes her think of her father, who worked for a railroad company. Mamah sees much of her father in Ed, especially both men’s reliability. She wonders if Ed and Lizzie will still eat together in the future, with the truth finally out in the open. The ride continues, and though worried, she eventually falls asleep.

Mamah’s family arrives in Boulder, and Mattie is far along in her pregnancy. Mamah introduces her friend to her daughter, Martha, who is named after Mattie (despite Mamah’s real name already being Martha). Mattie tasks her children with showing Mamah’s family where they will be staying. Mamah comments on two photos that Mattie has hanging in her home, and her friend explains that she studied photography when she lived in New York. Meanwhile, she worries about Mattie’s judgment.

When Mamah finally tells Mattie about Frank, her friend reacts calmly. She explains how easy it was to fall for him and how “he shows you how much better you can live” (65). Mattie criticizes the architect’s talk of family homes as hypocritical and worries about Mamah’s recklessness. They discuss the possibility of Mamah leaving Ed, but Mattie points out that she could lose their children. Mattie thinks Mamah will return to Ed: “You wouldn’t take down two families, Mame. You couldn’t live with yourself” (68).

Mamah and her children move into a boardinghouse run by Marie Brigham. Mamah volunteers at a library, and she and Mattie discuss Billy Sunday. Mattie encourages her to go to a Michigan University alumni gathering.

Ed begins writing to Mamah, saying he wants to get back together. Shortly after the Fourth of July, Mattie’s husband, Alden, sits with Mamah, and they talk. She discusses her mother and how she likely regretted sending her daughters off to college since none were married before she died. She agrees that education may have made her unfit for marriage; still, Mamah thought women would be able to vote by now and imagines a grander life for them.

Mamah considers staying in Boulder and leaving Ed but knows that if she divorces her husband, everyone will look down on them. Her financial situation would be more difficult, but then Mattie mentions that the head of the German language and literature department at the University of Colorado is retiring. She encourages Mamah to apply. The next week, Mamah receives a letter from Frank. He apologizes for seemingly pushing her to follow him to Europe but invites her to follow her dreams with him for a month or two. She replies with Mattie’s expected due date, implying that she will join him afterward.

Mamah’s son, John, asks when they’ll return home, and she begins giving him lessons in the morning. Ed continues writing, wondering when John will return to school. He plans to come to Boulder to collect the children, and they will stay with Mattie until then. When Mattie gives birth, the baby is a girl, and Mattie’s husband names her Mary.

When Mamah goes to the Western Union to send telegrams of her plans to both Frank and Ed, the clerk reveals she just received one telegram and that Ed is coming on Wednesday; Mamah plans to leave on Monday. Mamah explains her plans to her children and leaves a letter for Ed. When Monday comes, she leaves at dawn.