D. H. Lawrence’s controversial 1915 novel “The Rainbow” is the story of three generations of the Brangwen family. While it may be considered tame by today’s standards, due to its frank treatment of human sexuality, “The Rainbow” was banned and Lawrence was prosecuted on an obscenity charge in England when it was first published. The novel follows the lives and loves of the Brangwen family in the Midlands of England, at the borders of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, from the 1840s to 1905. The story begins with Tom Brangwen, from a family of many sons, and his love for Lydia, a Polish refugee and widow. The novel then focuses on Will Brangwen, one of Tom’s nephews and his destructive marriage to Anna, Lydia’s daughter from her first marriage. The final, longest, and most sensational part of the book follows Will and Anna’s daughter, Ursula, and her search for fulfillment and freedom in the conformist society around her. Ursula is a truly modern woman, a passionate and sexual person who is struggling to find meaning and connection in the changing and increasingly urban landscape around her. Through richly personal characterizations, “The Rainbow” deals profoundly with the complex nature of human relations. This edition includes a biographical afterword.
