The Women (Wheeler Large Print Book Series) Review

Author T. C. Boyle attemts to portray three of the four (five if his mother is included) major women in Frank Lloyd Wright's life in one volume. A similar fictional treatment of only one, Mamah Borthwick Cheney in Loving Frank: A Novel sets a very high standard. Boyle is bounded by the big topic and his chosen narrator. It is a very ambitious project.

One of the problems of presenting these three women is that the story of Mamah and her tragic death is overwhelming. It sets the stage for Miriam and Miriam sets the stage for Olgivanna. It needs to be told first but its drama is climatic. I presume this is why Boyle ends the book with it. Using reverse time is complicated by the overlap in the stories of Miriam and Olgivanna. Miriam's presence is heavy in Olgivanna's story. There are out of sequence vignettes usually about the narrator. The narrator's story adds a smaller, interesting, but still additional, theme.

Another problem with the triple topic is the unique personalities of these women. It may not be possible to explore their complexity and how they interconnect in one book. For instance, Ellen Key is mentioned frequently in Mamah's section, but the depth of her thinking, its nature for its time and how it influenced Mamah and FLW are minimized. Miriam's anger dominates the story of Olgivanna leaving less space for a full portrayal of Olgivanna. She is presented as a dancer with the mention of Gurdjeiff, but there is nothing to show how Gurdjeiff's philosophy and the commitment he inspired were critical in motivating Olgivanna or influencing Taliesin's development. For all its text, Miriam's story must not be complete. As a female sculptor, in this period, she had to be more than the bundle of nerves that she appears to be.

Using the voice of a former apprentice only works so far. In the long stretches where he describes scenes where he was not present you forget he is the supposed narrator until a footnote reminds you. (The narrator's use of footnotes, for me, was irritating and broke up the story.) The author has a great vocabulary and sent me to the dictionary for micturating, dehiscence, macquerreau, auscultated and others. Some were not to be found. A few others, with no dictionary handy, I just I glossed over. It does not seem that this narrator, who supposedly speaks English as a second language, would use these words.

I chose this book because of the amazing story of FLW's life. I almost stopped in the soap opera parts of Miriam but stayed to the end to see how Mamah would be interpreted.

I recommend this only for those who have an existing interest and some background in this story. Those without knowledge of FLW's personal life will have difficulty with the time changes.
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