Lady Chatterley's Lover

D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover tells Connie's story. She is the wife of Sir Clifford Chatterley. He comes home from the First World War. He is paralysed below the waist. Their life as a couple loses its joy. Connie starts a tender affair with his gamekeeper. With him, she finds a sex life she thought lost.

This classic novel looks at how love and sex connect. It also attacks modern life built around industry. The story has no single, fixed meaning. Some of Lawrence's views sought to keep old ways. These views later drew attacks from feminists and the political left.

The book first came out in Florence in 1928. This first edition was private. Its frank sex scenes and strong language shaped its public history. In Britain, state lawyers tried to block the full text. They sought to stop Penguin from putting it out. Penguin won the case. The book then became a bestseller across the world. The trial marked a move away from strict public rules on sex. Wider changes in sex and life came later. Yet Lawrence's own views did not fully fit those changes.

This edition is part of the Wordsworth Classics series. It lets new readers weigh the book's views on sex and love. They can also weigh its views on modern life.