Thurber House Evenings with Authors presents Nancy Horan at the Columbus Museum of Art, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, June 5. She will read from her bestselling debut novel, Loving Frank, an ambitious tale that blends fact and fiction relating to the clandestine love affair between Mamah Borthwick Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright that shocked Chicago society in the early 1900s.

Mamah and her husband Edwin Cheney had commissioned the famous architect to design their new home, but during that time, the relationship grew from professional to intimate and Mamah and Frank became lovers.

Mamah was a feminist who sought independence, but in order to achieve it, made wrenching personal decisions about her roles as a wife and mother. “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,” Mamah wrote in her diary, as she struggled with conflicting feelings about the choices she had made.

Carefully researched, Horan’s book portrays a woman who scholars and historians had scarcely mentioned when recounting the life of America’s greatest architect.

As she dug into historical records and then discovered 10 letters that Mamah had written, she compiled the personal information and historical detail that she needed to create a novel that follows the lives of Mamah and Frank as accurately as possible.

The New York Times wrote: “A transporting drama … Loving Frank humanizes its main characters so successfully … truly artful fiction. ”

Following the reading, Horan will take questions, chat with the audience about her writing and sign books that will be available for purchase. Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door, with discounts for students and seniors. For more information or to purchase tickets, call
614-464-1032 or visit www.thurberhouse.org.