Sons and Lovers

A mother who loves too much. A son who cannot escape. And the novel that broke every rule about how a family should be written.

D.H. Lawrence's semi-autobiographical masterpiece is the story of a young man torn between the woman who gave him life and the women who might teach him how to live.

Paul Morel grows up in a mining town in the English Midlands, the son of a coarse, drunken father and a sensitive, ambitious mother who despises her husband. Gertrude Morel pours all her frustrated love into her sons, especially Paul, binding him to her with threads of guilt, devotion, and silent competition. As Paul becomes a young man, he falls in love with two very different women: the gentle, nurturing Miriam Leivers, who wants his soul; and the experienced, sensual Clara Dawes, who wants his body. But he cannot give himself fully to either. His mother will not let him go. And until he breaks free, he cannot become his own man.

This is Lawrence at his most raw and autobiographical: a novel about class, desire, and the terrible, tender trap of family love. Sons and Lovers is one of the first great Freudian novels—and one of the most honest portraits of a young artist ever written.

• Lawrence's breakthrough novel, published in 1913 to widespread critical acclaim

• Drawn directly from Lawrence's own childhood in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire

• Frequently ranked among the greatest novels of the 20th century, exploring the Oedipal complex before Freud was widely known in England

Available in multiple formats:

• Paperback & Hardcover: Beautifully designed print editions presenting the complete, unabridged text made to last.

• Ebook: DRM-free EPUB compatible with Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, and all major e-readers.

• Audiobook: Professionally narrated, complete and unabridged, available on all major audiobook platforms.

A beautifully crafted edition for your shelf, your device, or your ears—or the perfect gift for anyone who knows that the hardest love to escape is a mother's.

About the Author

D.H. Lawrence (1885–1930) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, and essayist, one of the most controversial and influential writers of the twentieth century. Born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, the son of a coal miner and a former schoolteacher, Lawrence drew heavily on his industrial Midlands upbringing. Sons and Lovers (1913) was his third novel and the first to bring him widespread recognition. The novel is deeply autobiographical: Lawrence's own father was a miner, his mother a refined, ambitious woman who encouraged her son's artistic ambitions. When his mother died of cancer in 1910, Lawrence helped her die by giving her an overdose of medicine—a scene that appears in the novel. His other major works include The Rainbow (1915), Women in Love(1920), and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928). Lawrence spent much of his adult life traveling, seeking a climate that would ease his tuberculosis. He died in France at the age of 44.