Description

Women in Love, D. H. Lawrence's sequel to The Rainbow, continues the tumultuous stories of sisters Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen. The sisters are definitively modern women, bolder and more intense in nature than their Victorian predecessors. Both plunge headlong into passionate affairs with two very different men, and the two bright young couples explore their relationships with each other and the world around them. Theirs are the voices of a new age as they question the nature of love, politics, and the people of England. Controversial in its day for its honest, vivid depictions of sexuality and other daring topics, this novel is a fascinating look at modern life and love breaking free of a more conservative past.

About the Author

D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) was born into a coal-mining family in England. A gifted student, he rose above his humble origins to win scholarships and continue his education through high school. While working as a factory clerk, ill health took away his strength. As he recovered, Lawrence befriended a local family whose interest in literature matched his own. Encouraged by this support and connection, Lawrence began to write poems and short stories as he returned to work, this time as a teacher. After finding success in publishing a short work, Odor of Chrysanthemums, he began working on longer novels. With his career taking off, Lawrence endured several years of personal ups and downs, including the death of his mother and the beginning of a relationship with a married woman, who, once divorced, would become his wife. While living abroad in Europe and the United States, Lawrence continued to publish some of his most famous novels. Poor health cut short his prolific writing, but the works that Lawrence created, such as Sons and Lovers, Women in Love, Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Lost Girl, and The Rainbow, brought a new energy to twentieth century literature, introducing frank and challenging discussions of such difficult topics as politics, religion, and sexuality.

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Opening Lines (Experimental)

Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen sat one morning in the window-bay of their father's house in Beldover, working and talking. Ursula was stitching a piece of brightly-coloured embroidery, and Gudrun was drawing upon a board which she held on her knee. They were mostly silent, talking as their thoughts ...