by D. H. Lawrence, the unexpurgated text privately printed in Italy, 1928
The story of a young woman, Connie, married to an aristocrat, Clifford Chatterley, who is crippled from the war. He is prideful, selfish, fearful, small-minded, and wears her down. She seeks solace in the woods and falls in love with the gamekeeper, Mr. Mellors. They have a passionate love affair, she gets pregnant, and they decide to marry. Because they are from 2 different classes, this is very, very difficult. The book ends with them living in different parts of England – waiting it out until they can be together – and a long, long letter Mellors writes to Connie – hopeful and lucid.
Great book! I can see why it was obscene and banned. He goes into detail about their love – not dirty in any way although he uses the F word as a description of their passion, and the C word as a compliment to Connie’s womanhood. Mostly it is a book against the ugliness of industrialism (Colliers = coal miners – how Clifford makes money) and the class system – why they both are so bad.