Lawrence started it shortly after writing Women in Love, and worked on it only sporadically until he completed it in 1920.

[2] Alvina Houghton, the daughter of a widowed Midlands draper, comes of age just as her father’s business is failing.

In a desperate attempt to regain his fortune and secure his daughter’s proper upbringing, James Houghton buys a theater.

Among the traveling performers he employs is Ciccio, a sensual Italian who immediately captures Alvina’s attention.

Fleeing with him to Naples, she leaves her safe world behind and enters one of sexual awakening, desire, and fleeting freedom.