The Lost Girl: A Novel (Modern Library Classics) [Paperback]

D.H. Lawrence (Author), Lee Siegel (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Modern Library Classics | Publication Date: October 14, 2003

The Lost Girl, D. H. Lawrence’s forgotten novel, is a passionate tale of longing and sexual defiance, of devastation and destitution.

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[Lawrence was] a writer with an extraordinary sense of the physical world, of the colour and texture and shape of things, for whom the body was alive and the problems of the body insistent and important.” —Virginia Woolf

Book Description

Worthen provides a substantial introduction to Lawrence's The Lost Girl, tracing the novel's development from rough drafts through publication and censorship. Included in this edition is a hitherto unpublished version of the opening chapter. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library (October 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812969979
• ISBN-13: 978-0812969979
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,570,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Touching, Soul-Searching Novel, July 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Lost Girl (Bantam Classic) (Paperback)

I recently got done reading this wonderful, yet forgotten novel of Lawrence's. Truly compelling in it's intricate details of a young woman trying to find herself. Literally. She goes on the 'universal' self journey and discovers that she was lost and finally finds her identity and sensuality in the man she loves. D.H. Lawrence has a wonderful way of not wrapping up the ending in a nice,neat little package. As always, Lawrence is the ultimate man of mystery, sensual needs and desires. A "must read" for those who love to read Lawrence and for those who never have!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Find, May 14, 2004

By 

Rhett Clements "Playwright" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Girl (Collected Works of D.H. Lawrence) (Library Binding)

This book was given to me on the last day of High School in 1972 by a girl friend. I've kept this book ever since and it ranks up there with my all time favorite books even though I agree with one other reviewer that this is not the best example of Lawrence's work. However, with that said, this book also has a heart and tenderness that really meant something to me. I'm amazed no one has ever written a screenplay of this work since it's worth it. It was the only book Lawrence ever won a prize for, which says something about it. Take a chance and read it.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soul Searching, February 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Lost Girl (Bantam Classic) (Paperback)

Just like SISTER CARRIE, THE LOST GIRL is about a young woman searching for her place in the world. Meaning, floucing from one man to another, flirting, playing, getting engaged then dashing away for fun. And just like JEANNIE GERHARDT, this old man gets herself in trouble.

But the most fascinating part of this book is it's glimps into her background. How she was brought up in a wealthy and rich household, only to try out different occupations against her father's wishes, then ends up as a lower classed female in life. Very tragic.