Set in Berkshire, England, during World War I, The Fox, like many of D. H. Lawrence's other major works, deals with the psychological relationships of three protagonists in a triangle of love and hatred.
Without the help of any male laborers, Nellie March and Jill Banford struggle to maintain a marginal livelihood at the Bailey Farm.
A fox has raged through the poultry, and although the women—particularly the more masculine Nellie—have tried to shoot the intruder, he seems always to elude traps or gunshot.
Although they are only in their late twenties, in that era women who were still single at their age were generally considered to have forgone the prospect of marriage.
A 1967 film was made from The Fox, starring Sandy Dennis as Jill Banford, Anne Heywood as Ellen March, and Keir Dullea as Paul (not Henry) Grenfield.