Daughters of the Vicar is a book written by D.H. Lawrence and published in 2004. The book revolves mainly around the story of the two eldest daughters of Mr Lindley, who is a vicar. Mr Lindley and his family are very poor but they are a proud family and Mr Lindley is proud of his occupation as a vicar. Mary is Mr Lindley's oldest daughter and tries to resolve the family's property by marrying a clergyman, Mr Massy, who has enough money to support her and her family. Louisa is Mary's younger sister and does not agree with Mary's method of marrying for money and vows to only ever marry for love, which results in her marriage to Alfred who is a local collier. The loveless marriage Mary has entered into becomes evidence throughout the book.This contrast between the sisters leads the family into a division and Mr Lindley receives hostility from his parishioners which leads the family to become isolated from the community.
The book was written by the author in order to present love in different forms - sometimes love can be the love for your family (or a person) and you would do anything to keep your family happy and well, as Mary does. However, love can also be in its most pure form and where one marries purely out of love for another person, as Louisa does. The author also wanted to portray how even a family of such poverty could still be so proud due to their religion.
The book was received well by critics and fans alike. Indeed, Anita Desai has inserted a foreword into the published book and has stated that "In the little story, The Daughters of the Vicar, we have the essential D.H. Lawrence – the little contained world in a mossy valley of coal-veined hills from which that D.H. Lawrence grew". The book is also available as an audiobook.
