The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd

David Herbert Richards Lawrence (1885-1930) was an English writer of the 20th century, whose prolific and diverse output included novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books, translations, literary criticism, and personal letters. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanizing effects of modernity and industrialisation. In them, Lawrence confronts issues relating to emotional health and vitality, spontaneity, sexuality, and human instinct. Lawrence's opinions earned him many enemies and he endured official persecution, censorship, and misrepresentation of his creative work throughout the second half of his life, much of which he spent in a voluntary exile he called his "savage pilgrimage". E. M. Forster, in an obituary notice, challenged this widely held view, describing him as "the greatest imaginative novelist of our generation". Lawrence is perhaps best known for his novels Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, and Lady Chatterley's Lover. Within these he explores the possibilities for life and living within an Industrial setting. His other works include: The White Peacock (1911), The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd (1914), The Lost Girl (1920), St. Mawr (1925), The Man Who Died (1931) and The Fight for Barbara (1933).