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. Paul Morel is caught between his need for family and community and his efforts to define himself sexually and emotionally. Lawrence's powerful description of Paul's relationships makes this a novel as much for the beginning of the twenty-first century as it was for the beginning of the

twentieth.

戴·赫·劳伦斯，（David Herbert Lawrence，1885～1930）英国诗人、小说家、散文家。出生于矿工家庭，当过屠户会计、厂商雇员和小学教师，曾在国内外漂泊十多年，对现实抱批判否定态度。他写过诗，但主要写长篇小说，共有10部，最著名的为《虹》（1915）、《爱恋中的女人》（1921）和《查太莱夫人的情人》（1928）。

劳伦斯生于1885年。父亲是矿工，缺少教育；母亲出身上流社会，有良好的修养。这种文化上的差异，使他们经常吵吵闹闹。但这种差异使劳伦斯从父亲那里得到了丰富的社会经验，从母亲那里至高无上的关怀。也许是母亲过分溺爱，劳伦斯有严重的恋母情结。他在给朋友的信中说：“我们相互爱着，几乎像丈夫跟妻子那样的爱，同时又是母亲与儿子的爱。我们俩就像一个人，彼此那样敏感，我们之间不要语言。这挺可怕，弄得我有些方面不正常。”

劳伦斯是最富想象力的作家，他如不过早地逝世，肯定会有更惊世的作品问世，也许更会被列为禁书。