Love, murder and destruction

The ax on the cover of this true-crime tale tells all: The subject is mass murder. And the victims, among others, were the live-in lover of Frank Lloyd Wright and her two young children. The murderer, a servant in the house, first served the soup and then hacked seven diners to death. Then he set fire to Taliesin, the iconic Wisconsin home that Wright had just finished building for his paramour and himself, although both were still married to others. The date was Aug. 15, 1914.

Mamah Borthwick Cheney had been Wright’s married neighbor in a Chicago suburb, where he lived with his wife and six children. The architect seemed committed to family life, frolicked with his kids, attended church and designed brilliant homes with open floor plans and central hearths as emblems of togetherness.

Suddenly, he abandoned all that. He fled to Europe with neighbor Cheney, and returned to build Taliesin so the two could start a new life. The lovers left their respective spouses and kids to fend for themselves. (Unfortunately, her children were visiting on the day the murders occurred.)

Drennan, an English professor, promises to answer questions that have long prickled scholars: how could Wright leave his children, why did the murderer do it, what does this episode mean in the context of Wright’s body of work? Despite extensive research, Drennan doesn’t come close. That’s because Wright never fully answered those questions himself. And the murderer drank acid and died before trial. And the author, not an architect, lacks informed perspective on Wright’s historic work. Scholars already know more than this book reveals. But for those who know little about Wright, and don’t want to get too technical, this is just enough to whet the appetite for more.

--Bettijane Levine