Lady C
The Long, Sensational Life of Lady Chatterley's Lover
Published on 12. May 2026
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-300-26637-5 (ISBN)
Description
A vibrant account of the remarkable novel Lady Chatterley's Lover, tracing its life over the last century
D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover is one of the best-known and most resonant works of the twentieth century. Originally considered obscene and unpublishable in numerous countries, its scandalous story of class divide and the English countryside is infamous. But, since the 1920s, we have repeatedly re-created Lady Chatterley, from film and TV to music and tourism.
Guy Cuthbertson tells the colourful story of the novel's journey through the last hundred years. He examines how the book has been read, adapted, and reimagined across the globe, from the United States to Japan, and explores the 1960 "Chatterley trial"-a key moment in the struggle for freedom of expression. It might have been burnt and derided, laughed at and defaced, but Lawrence's novel has crept into all walks of life. Whether the book, or its influence, be good or bad, we live in a world that Lady Chatterley's Lover helped to create.
D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover is one of the best-known and most resonant works of the twentieth century. Originally considered obscene and unpublishable in numerous countries, its scandalous story of class divide and the English countryside is infamous. But, since the 1920s, we have repeatedly re-created Lady Chatterley, from film and TV to music and tourism.
Guy Cuthbertson tells the colourful story of the novel's journey through the last hundred years. He examines how the book has been read, adapted, and reimagined across the globe, from the United States to Japan, and explores the 1960 "Chatterley trial"-a key moment in the struggle for freedom of expression. It might have been burnt and derided, laughed at and defaced, but Lawrence's novel has crept into all walks of life. Whether the book, or its influence, be good or bad, we live in a world that Lady Chatterley's Lover helped to create.
Reviews / Votes
"A revealing, but far from solemn, new study of the book's century-long afterlife."-Boyd Tonkin, Financial Times"Lady C shows us just how long it took [society] to metabolize Lawrence's 'fetid masterpiece.'"-Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine
"Lady C offers an overview of the fortunes and cultural footprint of a novel that, in many ways, is uncharacteristic of Lawrence's fiction."-Matthew Dennison, Country Life
"Erudite, informative and told with humour. I loved this account of the explosive arrival and embattled aftermath of a literary sensation-and of the response from an outwardly prudish, inwardly prurient public. Lawrence's 'dirty little book' has changed the world."-Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment
"Shrewd, even-handed, and frequently amusing, Lady C is a gleefully exhaustive survey of reactions to one of the world's most argued-over narratives."-Robert Crawford, author of Eliot After the Waste Land
"Guy Cuthbertson's 'life story' of Lady Chatterley's Lover is an intricate and engaging history of one of the most famous books in English literature. From its creation to its many afterlives, Cuthbertson deftly weaves a colourful biography of Lawrence's novel whose cultural resonance lies not only in its plot, but in its legal and popular reception across the decades."-Jane Potter, author of Wilfred Owen
"Seriously entertaining even on the serious subject of censorship, this is a very clever look at the life of a book. Disgustingly good."-Lucy Worsley, author of Agatha Christie
"Cuthbertson has achieved the near-impossible: a book of deep scholarship that's also wryly funny. Lady C absolutely is a book you would wish your wife or your servants to read. And everyone else, too."-Helen Lewis, author of The Genius Myth
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
16 b-w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 159 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
574 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-300-26637-5 (9780300266375)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Guy Cuthbertson is professor of British literature and culture at Liverpool Hope University and the author of a major biography of Wilfred Owen as well as Peace at Last: A Portrait of Armistice Day, 11 November 1918.