The Rainbow

The Rainbow is a novel by David Herbert Lawrence. It is a sensual and explicit exploration of themes such as pre-war life, the Brangwen family, and Ursula's encounter with a female schoolteacher. The novel was met with vitriolic attacks from reviewers, who branded it "utter filth" and "a mass of obscenity". It was only published in an abridged form in 1915, eleven years after it was written. The original and unabridged text of the novel is reissued here.

David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) expected The Rainbow to cause a stir. In a characteristically open exploration of sensual and explicit themes, the novel traces more than sixty years of pre-war life and three generations of the Brangwen family. Employing language infused with the rich imagery and repetition of biblical texts to treat all subjects - from the green fields and empty skies of the Brangwen farm through to Ursula's encounter with a female schoolteacher - Lawrence took an assuredly striking approach. However, he was unprepared for the vitriolic attacks of his reviewers. The novel was branded 'utter filth' and 'a mass of obscenity'; it was banned only a month after its publication in 1915, unsold copies being confiscated and destroyed. A second, abridged edition would not appear for another eleven years. Now a landmark in the early modernist canon, the original and unabridged text of 1915 is reissued here.