Sons and Lovers cover

Sons and Lovers

D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930)

Original en 160111 words First published 1913 United Kingdom

D. H. Lawrence's 1913 novel, and the most autobiographical of his books. In the mining village of Bestwood, Gertrude Morel marries a collier she cannot respect and pours her intensity into her sons; Paul, the third, grows up between the pit and the drawing-room, torn between a mother who will not let him go and two women who want him — Miriam, reaching for the spiritual, and Clara, unhappily married. Lawrence wrote his own Nottinghamshire, his own mother and his own knot of filial love into it, and English fiction never quite recovered its composure.

Text sourced from Project Gutenberg (public domain in the United States); the Project Gutenberg trademark and license text have been removed on import. Public-domain status determined by the author's death year + 50 years rule.

Table of Contents

  1. 001 CHAPTER I THE EARLY MARRIED LIFE OF THE MORELS “The Bottoms” succeeded to “Hell Row”. 2579 words
  2. 002 “A man will part with anything so long as he’s drunk, and you’re… 2518 words
  3. 003 “I didn’t know he was famous,” laughed Mrs. 2545 words
  4. 004 “A mean, wizzen-hearted stick!” Mrs. 2551 words
  5. 005 “Open the door, Walter,” she said coldly. 2511 words
  6. 006 “Well,” she said, “she’s about as bad as she can be. 2586 words
  7. 007 “Is there nothing to eat in the house?” he asked, insolently, as if to a servant. 2516 words
  8. 008 As she meditated, at about nine o’clock, he opened the door and came… 2518 words
  9. 009 “Go out!” Mrs. Morel commanded her son. William had not the wit to… 2602 words
  10. 010 She had a big doll of which she was fearfully proud, though not so fond. 2572 words
  11. 011 But the best time for the young children was when he made fuses. 2516 words
  12. 012 “How is it your father’s not come!” said Mr. 2548 words
  13. 013 “My shoes are made of Spanish leather, My socks are made of silk; I… 2577 words
  14. 014 “I can finish it,” said Paul. 2571 words
  15. 015 Paul wished he were stupid. 2566 words
  16. 016 “Where should we go for dinner?” asked the mother. 2500 words
  17. 017 “Fetched the letters?” Mr. 2508 words
  18. 018 “Put your pen in your ear, if you’re going to be a clerk. 2520 words
  19. 019 “I told you you’d no need to change,” said William to her. 2505 words
  20. 020 “But I like the feel of _men_ on things, while they’re alive. 2533 words
  21. 021 “Here is your book, Lily,” said Mrs. 2519 words
  22. 022 “And William is dead, and my mother’s in London, and what will she be… 2503 words
  23. 023 It was four and a half miles’ drive. 2551 words
  24. 024 “It’s a treat of a swing,” he said. 2516 words
  25. 025 “I didn’t—” he began, but got no farther, feeling weak in all his bones. 2503 words
  26. 026 Paul looked down the garden for his mother. 2554 words
  27. 027 Paul was now pale with weariness. 2539 words
  28. 028 “Here!” she cried to a man. 2504 words
  29. 029 “He’s awfully nice-looking. 2506 words
  30. 030 “Very well.” She was pleased. 2565 words
  31. 031 “Shut that doo-er!” bawled Morel furiously. 2522 words
  32. 032 “_Inter alia_,” he said. “Oh, Lord! are you going to spout foreign… 2501 words
  33. 033 “I suppose it’s my heart,” she replied. 2504 words
  34. 034 “No, I think not,” he answered. 2513 words
  35. 035 “Go away, Bill,” he said. 2559 words
  36. 036 “You were at Margaret Bonford’s meeting the other evening,” he said to her. 2564 words
  37. 037 The flowers were very fresh and sweet. 2505 words
  38. 038 “I s’ll trust her to you, my lad, and hold you responsible for her.”… 2515 words
  39. 039 “I don’t believe God knows such a lot about Himself,” he cried. 2504 words
  40. 040 “You never give it a chance,” she said. 2522 words
  41. 041 There was something in Clara that Paul disliked, and much that piqued him. 2599 words
  42. 042 “You feel as if you could scoop up the folk like tadpoles, and have a… 2507 words
  43. 043 “But how do you know what she wants?” “I’ve been with her for seven… 2578 words
  44. 044 He courted her now like a lover. 2526 words
  45. 045 “And still believe it,” he said. 2518 words
  46. 046 “Always—it has always been so!” she cried. 2720 words
  47. 047 Slowly the hours crawled. 2512 words
  48. 048 She toiled to his side. Arriving there, she looked at him heavily… 2626 words
  49. 049 “Have you told your mother about Clara?” she asked. 2500 words
  50. 050 “Look, Miriam; these are the white ones that came from your garden. 2541 words
  51. 051 The drama continued. He saw it all in the distance, going on… 2524 words
  52. 052 Then he stood, arrested. Clara was kneeling on a pile of white… 2567 words
  53. 053 Clara was happy, almost sure of him. 2522 words
  54. 054 “Don’t ask me anything about the future,” he said miserably. 2502 words
  55. 055 She stood and looked at him. 2521 words
  56. 056 The whole night went black. 2504 words
  57. 057 “And do you _know_ it’s a tumour?” “No, I am not sure.” “What else _might_ it be? 2525 words
  58. 058 “Don’t think I don’t like your house, Annie,” she said; “but it’s… 2563 words
  59. 059 He felt as if his life were being destroyed, piece by piece, within him. 2502 words
  60. 060 But the doctor shook his head. 2627 words
  61. 061 “Mother, mother!” He was still with her when the undertakers came… 2546 words
  62. 062 She seemed to understand better now about men, and what they could or would do. 2510 words
  63. 063 She went wandering, in her blind way, through the little throngs of… 2760 words