Showing results by author "D H Lawrence" in All Categories

Set in the rural midlands of England, The Rainbow revolves around three generations of Brangwens, a family deeply involved with the land and noted for their strength and vigour. When Tom Brangwen marries a Polish widow, Lydia Lensky, and adopts her daughter Anna as his own, he is unprepared for the conflict and passion that erupts between them. Their stories continue in Women in Love.

Sons and Lovers, Lawrence's third published novel, was written by the author at the height of his literary powers. The story of class differences (the relationship between a middle-class woman and a miner) in the tough world of coal mining brought a refreshing realism to literature. It remains a challenging text and is studied widely. It is particularly effective on audiobook in the hands of Nottinghamshire reader Paul Slack.

Sons and Lovers, D. H. Lawrence's first major novel, was also the first in the English language to explore ordinary working-class life from the inside. No writer before or since has written so well about the intimacies enforced by a tightly knit mining community and by a family where feelings are never hidden for long. When the marriage between Walter Morel and his sensitive, high-minded wife begins to break down, the bitterness of their frustration seeps into their children's lives.

Dive into the intricacies of love and desire in Women in Love, a captivating novel by British author D. H. Lawrence, published in 1920. As a sequel to his earlier work, The Rainbow, this story continues to explore the passionate lives of the Brangwen sisters, Gudrun and Ursula. Gudrun, an artist, finds herself in a tumultuous relationship with the powerful industrialist Gerald Crich, whose intense nature contrasts sharply with the profound connection that blossoms between Ursula and Rupert Birkin, an introspective intellectual who embodies many of Lawrences own philosophies. The narrative ...

A powerful and engrossing tale of extremes and extremists, D. H. Lawrence's Women in Love follows the passionate relationships of two sisters, Gudrun and Ursula Brangwen, with their respective lovers, the ominous Gerald Crich and the charismatic but fragile Rupert Birkin.

In Odour of Chrysanthemums D.H. Lawrence explores the concept of human isolation and the nature of love and relationships. This is the story of Elizabeth, a young wife and mother waiting for her alcoholic husband to return home from what she assumes is another night of drinking...

Lawrence is at his best in this story, taken from the scenes of his childhood and based on characters he knew intimately. The main themes of the story are the class system that dominated society at the time and the pressures put on the young lovers who have to overcome it, and the position of women in society who have nothing to offer but their bodies. For the sake of security and position, one daughter makes a loveless marriage whilst the other daughter gives all that up for love.

In "The Prussian Officer", there is an anti-militarism theme, unpopular as the nation drew near to war, and an examination of latent homosexuality as the officer in the story struggles with his feelings for his orderly. The young soldier is driven beyond his breaking point, but finds a kind of redemption in his final return to natural surroundings and, symbolically, he finds equality in death with his tormentor as they are put side by side in the mortuary.

"The Thorn in the Flesh" was written by D.H. Lawrence in 1914. The story can be listened to in tandem with "The Prussian Officer", which was written in the same year and has a similar setting and theme. In this story, the young soldier fights against his own shortcomings as a soldier and as a man. He flees the scene of his crime into the arms of his lover, where he finds solace and comfort, but he cannot escape the inevitable military machine that Lawrence hated.

Sons and Lovers is widely considered by critics and readers alike as D.H. Lawrence’s masterpiece and a classic interpretation of the Oedipal complex. Surely one of the greatest autobiographical novels ever written, it tells the story of Paul Morel, a sensitive artist with a far stronger attachment to his mother than his working-class, alcoholic father. Searching for love and human connection, Paul is torn between two very different women, but neither of them measures up to his mother.

Lawrence is often accused of misogyny, and this story used as evidence against him. There is the simple but honest mine worker who has taken on a wife who is "above" him, but who is struggling to understand her and her feelings for him. Slowly, the story unravels the woman's past. The listener cannot be entirely unsympathetic to her plight - Lawrence is too good a writer to let that happen - but her dishonesty has probably ruined two lives, and our feelings are for the husband.

In this beautifully observed study of a new marriage and the sexual tensions that run through it, Lawrence returns to his theme that happiness in marriage can only come with the submission of the woman to the man. The young wife strains against the bonds of being married and dallies with another man but returns to the arms of her husband once he shows his true feelings for her.

Goose Fair was written by D H Lawrence in 1910. Lawrence sets his story against the backdrop of the industrial troubles caused by the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. A young woman is torn between her need for a lover and her contempt for what she perceives to be his dishonesty in the burning down of a mill. Is all love a compromise between the ideal and the reality of life?

A Fragment of Stained Glass was written by D H Lawrence in 1911. Lawrence relates a story, supposedly from the Middle Ages, which tells of the possible triumph of love and the human spirit over the forces of religion, superstition, and social injustice.

Fifty great classic short stories selected from the works of the best writers of the last century.

Gerald Crich, son of a wealthy colliery owner, captures the heart of Gudrun, while Ursula becomes enamored with Rupert Birkin, a school inspector - their complex relationship likely modelled on that between Lawrence, his wife Frieda, and John Middleton Murry and Katherine Mansfield. Things are far from harmonious, and the discord and conflict leads to many heated and elaborate philosophical discussions about modern society and the nature of love, while tragedy looms large.

Rainbow tells the captivating tale of the Brangwen family across three generations, weaving together a rich tapestry of sexual and religious experiences. This narrative explores the profound struggle of individual consciousness to transcend the mundane and embrace a deeper reality. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly industrializing England, the characters grapple with isolation due to their divergence from a conformist society, reflecting the complexities of human connection and the quest for authenticity. - Summary by shreyasethi

In a tumultuous marriage, Mrs. Holroyd endures the torment of her loutish miner husband, whose drinking and abusive behavior shatter her spirit. When a charming neighbor begins to show her affection, she finds herself harboring dark thoughts about her husbands fate. Will she dare to wish for his demise? - Summary by Michele Eaton

In The Fox, two young women living on a small farm during the First World War find their solitary life interrupted. As a fox preys on their poultry, a human predator plans to prey on the women. The Captain’s Doll explores the complex and intimate relationship between a German countess and a married Scottish soldier in occupied Germany, while in The Ladybird a wounded German prisoner of war has a disturbing and profound influence on the Englishwoman who visits him in the hospital.

Flutist Aaron Sisson navigates the tumultuous aftermath of WWI, searching for solace amidst bar-room conversations, alcohol, and fleeting connections with women. Disillusioned by the conventionality of a mining executives family, he abandons his wife and children in pursuit of freedom on the open road. During a chance encounter at an opera performance, he finds himself once again entangled with the family, where conversations of love and war leave everyone unfulfilled. Over dinner with one of the women, Aaron confesses his apathy towards life, yearning only for solitude. As he drifts through ...