Set in the period leading up to the First World War, Sons and Lovers is the story of the Morels, a working-class family in the Midlands. Gertrude Morel is a possessive mother, whose relationship with her youngest son, Paul, becomes strained when he forms a relationship with Miriam, a shy, intelligent girl. Sons and Lovers is a lyrical novel about transition: from the rural world to the industrial, from one generation to the next, and from childhood to adulthood.