Women in Love

Written in 1916, Women in Love brings to life the intimate attractions of a circle of friends and lovers and was described in an early review as an "analytical study of sexual depravity." Exploring the very nature of physical and emotional love, Lawrence masterfully intertwines the lives of the novel's principal characters, Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen (who were first introduced in Lawrence's The Rainbow) and their respective lovers, Rupert Birkin and Gerald Crich. Perhaps owing its sources to real-life attachments that Lawrence and his wife, Frieda, shared with John Middleton Murry and his wife, Katherine Mansfield, the novel creates a startling, almost incantational mix of ideas, emotions, and symbolism. When Lawrence was unable to find a publisher for this, his favorite novel, it was privately printed in New York in 1920 and appeared in England a year later.