Product Description

These three novellas display D. H. Lawrence’s brilliant and insightful evocation of human relationships - both tender and cruel - and the devastating results of war. In The Fox, two young women living on a small farm during the First World War find their solitary life interrupted. As a fox preys on their poultry, a human predator has the women in his sights. The Captain’s Doll explores the complex relationship between a German countess and a married Scottish soldier in occupied Germany, while in The Ladybird a wounded prisoner of war has a disturbing influence on the Englishwoman who visits him in hospital.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72891 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

About the Author
D(avid) H(erbert) Lawrence (1885-1930) English novelist, story writer, critic, poet and painter, one of the greatest figures in 20th-century English literature. Among his works are The White Peacock(1911), Sons and Lovers (1913), The Rainbow (1915) and Lady Chatterly's Lover, first published privately in Florence in 1928. Helen Dunmore is a novelist, poet, short story and children’s writer. Her published work includes eight collections of poetry, eight novels and two collections of short stories. In her first novel, Zennor in Darkness, she wrote about D H Lawrence's stay in Zennor during the First World War. A Spell of Winter won the inaugural Orange Prize for Fiction. The Siege was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize for Fiction and the Orange Prize for Fiction.

Customer Reviews

Beguiling, exceptional...
Due to the popularity of novels like 'Women in Love', 'Sons and Lovers' and 'The Rainbow', it is often forgotten that D.H. Lawrence was also an exceptionally gifted short-story writer. This triptych of stories forms a cohesive whole, and the stories complement one another whilst remaining sufficiently individuated to stand out on their own. Each story weighs in at around 60-70 pages long.
The first story, 'The Fox' has a gothic feel, mixing animal mythology and psychological drama. Lawrence skillfully creates a claustrophobic ambience around the three main characters and each one of the them is perfectly scripted.

'The Captain's Doll' is next up, transporting the reader into the Tyrol, and featuring some dizzying descriptive writing of its icy landscapes. Again, this story is heavy on the psychological warfare between the main protagonists, the writing evocative of the later stages of 'Women in Love'.

The final story in the collection, 'The Ladybird' is suitably the most metaphysical and philosophical, containing plenty of musing about death and re-birth. The tone of this story contrasts to the others, and there is a likeness to the famous poem 'Bavarian Gentians', but again it is a story that involves your emotions and repeats beguiling symbols and images.

This is a collection of short stories for anyone interested in classic writing but who also wants to be entertained. The mark of Lawrence's best writing is that it combines technical excellence with fluidity and emotion, and this is no exception.