"This is the story of a young man, Paul Morel, who can not detach himself from his mother to achieve emotional independence. Despite their love for him, Miriam and Clara fail in their efforts to overcome the formidable maternal influence. Paul abandons them and returns to the mother who, in spite of her apparent humility, exercises a deep empire over him. Lawrence has also put into this drama what he experienced of the existence of the miners of Nottinghamshire, his tenderness for humanity, his admiration for the splendor of nature."