David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) expected The Rainbow to cause a stir. In a characteristically open exploration of sensual and explicit themes, the novel traces more than sixty years of pre-war life and three generations of the Brangwen family. Employing language infused with the rich imagery and repetition of biblical texts to treat all subjects - from the green fields and empty skies of the Brangwen farm through to Ursula's encounter with a female schoolteacher - Lawrence took an assuredly striking approach. However, he was unprepared for the vitriolic attacks of his reviewers. The novel was branded 'utter filth' and 'a mass of obscenity'; it was banned only a month after its publication in 1915, unsold copies being confiscated and destroyed. A second, abridged edition would not appear for another eleven years. Now a landmark in the early modernist canon, the original and unabridged text of 1915 is reissued here.

Born within walking distance of ten Nottinghamshire pits, David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) was painfully aware that his frail physique and quiet character were ill suited to the mining industry upon which his community depended. The difficulties of his youth are manifest in Sons and Lovers, his first major novel and an insider's portrayal of the culture of the collieries. Writing to a friend, Lawrence explained the seed of his plot: 'a woman of character and refinement goes into the lower class, and has no satisfaction in her own life'. Stemming from this are the intricate difficulties in the relationships of Paul Morel, the second son of this unhappy mother, torn between her overpowering influence and two vastly different women - the quiet, old-fashioned Miriam and the modern divorcee Clara. Although initially deemed indecent and rejected for publication, Sons and Lovers appeared for the first time in 1913.

Born within walking distance of ten Nottinghamshire pits, David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) was painfully aware that his frail physique and quiet character were ill suited to the mining industry upon which his community depended. The difficulties of his youth are manifest in Sons and Lovers, his first major novel and an insider's portrayal of the culture of the collieries. Writing to a friend, Lawrence explained the seed of his plot: 'a woman of character and refinement goes into the lower class, and has no satisfaction in her own life'. Stemming from this are the intricate difficulties in the relationships of Paul Morel, the second son of this unhappy mother, torn between her overpowering influence and two vastly different women - the quiet, old-fashioned Miriam and the modern divorcee Clara. Although initially deemed indecent and rejected for publication, Sons and Lovers appeared for the first time in 1913.

David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) expected The Rainbow to cause a stir. In a characteristically open exploration of sensual and explicit themes, the novel traces more than sixty years of pre-war life and three generations of the Brangwen family. Employing language infused with the rich imagery and repetition of biblical texts to treat all subjects - from the green fields and empty skies of the Brangwen farm through to Ursula's encounter with a female schoolteacher - Lawrence took an assuredly striking approach. However, he was unprepared for the vitriolic attacks of his reviewers. The novel was branded 'utter filth' and 'a mass of obscenity'; it was banned only a month after its publication in 1915, unsold copies being confiscated and destroyed. A second, abridged edition would not appear for another eleven years. Now a landmark in the early modernist canon, the original and unabridged text of 1915 is reissued here.