Title: Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Author: DH Lawrence
Publication date: 1928
Genre: Romance
What’s it about?
The wealthy Lady Chatterley conducts an extramarital affair with her husband’s gamekeeper, and discovers true love in the process.
Where did I get hold of the book?
This one was from the university library. At the time of writing I’ve just realised that it’s due back today, so I’ve had to make an emergency call to renew it!
- Find the book in a library near you (worldwide).
- Support local independent bookshops by buying the book from Hive (UK).
What did I learn from it?
The book is set in industrial Nottinghamshire, which is not too far away from where I grew up in Lincolnshire (although my home village is a fairly picturesque rural setting rather than grimy mining country). It was therefore fascinating to read about the landscape and social history of this region, as I’d never really paid much attention to it before. It’s often the case that we ignore what’s on our doorstep and reserve our explorations for more distant destinations, so it was good to learn a bit more about this neighbouring county: specifically, the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the personal and working lives of its inhabitants.
The setting for the Chatterley’s stately home is the fictional Wragby Hall. There is actually a village in Lincolnshire with the name Wragby, so I did have to look it up to check whether this wasn’t in fact the basis for the hall in the novel – but no, the real-life Wragby is much further to the east, closer to the beaches of Skegness than the pits of the Midlands. Still, on a recent trip home to see my parents, I did pay somewhat more attention than usual to the placenames leaping out at me on the road signs as I barrelled along the A50 from Stoke to Nottingham.
How did it make me see the world differently?
It was slightly depressing to read about the social concerns of Constance Chatterley and Mellors, the gamekeeper, and wonder whether anything has really changed in the 90 or so years since the novel was published. The lovers are drawn together not just by the thrill of romance, but also because they share a perspective on life. Both characters mourn the passing of beauty and creativity, and regret the growing encroachment of money as a driving force throughout society. Those in poverty fixate on earning money because they have to; those with wealth fixate on getting more and more of it because they can.
I read their exchanges on this subject and could easily be reading a description of the world we are in now. I am fortunate, however, in that I have a number of people in my life who share my views and to whom I can talk without fear of being misunderstood. Lady Chatterley and Mellors, in their environment, seem to be two lost souls who have found each other – and it is this more than anything, more than the sex, I think, that leads them to develop such love for each other. Despite the class difference, he is more of a soulmate to her than any man of her own class she has known.
What changes will I make to my life as a result of it?
Reading about the creeping industrialisation of the landscape made me feel grateful for the countryside we have left to us. Again, I am very lucky in that I have an expanse of National Trust parkland within 5 minutes’ walk from my front door. I regularly go out for a morning constitutional around this beautiful woodland and meadow – but I find that I often use this time for processing thoughts, ideas and problems in my head, clearing my brain so that it’s ready to start the day.
While this is a very valuable exercise, I’ve realised that I don’t pay anywhere near enough attention to the scenery around me, and that is a crying shame. So I will make an effort to notice it more: not give up my thought processing entirely, but ensure that at certain points on my walks I will stop and take in the wonderful display of nature around me, and actively feel gratitude that I have this in my life.
A musical interlude
This time it couldn’t really be anything other than Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, could it?!