Lori M. (lormac) reviewed on + 120 more book reviews
Absolutely fascinating. I knew nothing about Frank Lloyd Wright's amorous affairs and, wow, what an eye-opener! I wish there was more about Kitty, and a little less about Miriam.
Boyle loses a starsfrom me due to the contrivance of the Japanese apprentice as the narrator, and due to the sometimes florid and/or repetitive prose (How often does the author say "put something on his/her stomach" instead of just "eat something"?!) (Perhaps I noticed this more because I listened to this book on CD, so I tend to notice these peculiarities more than when I read a book.)
Nevertheless, I admire Boyle for taking the facts of the various wives and filling in the details to compose a fascinating story. Unlike "Homer and Langley" where Doctorow completely changed the facts of the actual individuals' lives when writing a book supposedly about the Collyer brothers, here Boyle uses the known facts and fills in the details which remain unknown - for example, he creates the activities in the house on the morning of Mameh's death which could be possible, although not verified, but leaves the known facts in the story, such as Frank decorating Mameh's casket with flowers from her garden. This is much less annoying than Doctorow's wholesale re-imagining of events.
Boyle loses a starsfrom me due to the contrivance of the Japanese apprentice as the narrator, and due to the sometimes florid and/or repetitive prose (How often does the author say "put something on his/her stomach" instead of just "eat something"?!) (Perhaps I noticed this more because I listened to this book on CD, so I tend to notice these peculiarities more than when I read a book.)
Nevertheless, I admire Boyle for taking the facts of the various wives and filling in the details to compose a fascinating story. Unlike "Homer and Langley" where Doctorow completely changed the facts of the actual individuals' lives when writing a book supposedly about the Collyer brothers, here Boyle uses the known facts and fills in the details which remain unknown - for example, he creates the activities in the house on the morning of Mameh's death which could be possible, although not verified, but leaves the known facts in the story, such as Frank decorating Mameh's casket with flowers from her garden. This is much less annoying than Doctorow's wholesale re-imagining of events.
