This is a critical study of Lawrence's novel, discussing the book's genesis, Lawrence's life up to 1913, the novel as a product of its place and time, with psychoanalytical interpretations and a discussion of the importance of gender and sexuality. Brian Finney also considers the novel as a literary text - the narrative in perspective, thematic form, characterization, symbolic motifs and style. The author's numerous publications include "The Inner Eye: British Literary Autobiography of the Twentieth Century" and he edited Lawrence's "St Maur and Other Stories" and "Selected Short Stories".