Nancy Horan tells a tale that is a delicately balanced blend of fact and fiction. She gives life to two prominent real-life characters, Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney. Theirs was a publicly sensationalized romance, yet little substantive content is found in historical records about the true nature and endurance of their famed affair.

Strong-minded, independent and intelligent people, Wright and Cheney were not devoid of emotion, as the press of the time insinuated. They were not immune to being driven by powerful emotional needs. As willful intellectuals, they were both searching for meaning in their lives, above and beyond their roles of spouse and parent, and they found the motivation and understanding they were seeking in the company of each other. They were like-minded individuals who had a mutual respect for each other, because they each strived to be successful and make a difference in the world. They recognized in each other the desire to be true to one's own self and the desire to do the right thing. Ironically, this became the barrier to the true happiness they sought with each other.

Horan's extensive research is evident in her detailed descriptions of the worldly locations the amorous couple visited. Horan's use of dialogue and character development brings to light the thoughts, feelings, frustrations and fear that must have been experienced by these two real-life historically significant individuals. Horan is able to convey the plethora of emotion that must have plagued Mamah Cheney as she struggled to "do good" on the grand scale with regard to the women's movement, while remaining true to herself as an independent intellectual woman and managing the guilt of leaving her children to explore the love of her life, which came along too late in her life. Though many issues differ, most remain very real and very timely for independent women in 2007. LOVING FRANK is a well-written, emotionally powerful, intelligent and enveloping book.