Although it is his thrid novel, many consider Sons and Lovers to be D.H. Lawrence's first great work. A bildungsroman that follows the rise of young artist and lover Paul Morel from a mining town in pre-war England, Sons and Lovers contains several aspects from Lawrence's own life, including his working-class roots and the death of his beloved mother just three years earlier. The novel was met with mixed reviews upon its publication in 1913, and even obscenity charges (hardly the last in Lawrence's life). But it soon rose to prominence and is now considered to be not only Lawrence's best novel, but also one of the best in English literature.
With its themes of romantic and familial...