The Limits of Love - by Michael Squires (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The Limits of Love: The Lives of D. H. Lawrence and Frieda von Richthofen provides a candid look at two illustrious people who tested the capacity-and the limits-of marriage. The Lawrences come alive not as simple quarreling travelers, nor as blissful domestic partners, but as complex personalities who experimented with marriage to see if it would fulfill their needs. Their antagonisms and their sexual experiences informed Lawrence's fearless novels The Rainbow and Women in Love. Both works also tested the boundaries of public taste and faced harsh receptions. The cost of the Lawrences' strong but unstable marriage was high. Despite periods of happiness and peace, angry clashes meant separations and uneasy agreements to repair the marital intimacy when it cracked. Fractures of 1916, 1919, 1923, and 1926 healed slowly and with difficulty. In Lawrence's most calculated and famous work, Lady Chatterley's Lover, he successfully coded their marital stress and, full of rage, fused two stories of failed marriages. Drawing on many unpublished and recently discovered letters, The Limits of Love offers readers a detailed reconstruction of two complicated lives, written with narrative speed and a forceful style, filled with vivid interpretations of Lawrence's work, and conveying deep sympathy for people living outside established norms. This new dual biography, based on years of research by Michael Squires, captures the essence of Lawrence and Frieda, making the couple real, alive, and accessible"--

Book Synopsis

The Limits of Love: The Lives of D. H. Lawrence and Frieda von Richthofen provides a candid look at two illustrious people who tested the capacity--and the limits--of marriage. The Lawrences come alive not as simple quarreling travelers, nor as blissful domestic partners, but as complex personalities who experimented with marriage to see if it would fulfill their needs. Their antagonisms and their sexual experiences informed Lawrence's fearless novels The Rainbow and Women in Love. Both works also tested the boundaries of public taste and faced harsh receptions.

The cost of the Lawrences' strong but unstable marriage was high. Despite periods of happiness and peace, angry clashes meant separations and uneasy agreements to repair the marital intimacy when it cracked. Fractures of 1916, 1919, 1923, and 1926 healed slowly and with difficulty. In Lawrence's most calculated and famous work, Lady Chatterley's Lover, he successfully coded their marital stress and, full of rage, fused two stories of failed marriages.

Drawing on many unpublished and recently discovered letters, The Limits of Love offers readers a detailed reconstruction of two complicated lives, written with narrative speed and a forceful style, filled with vivid interpretations of Lawrence's work, and conveying deep sympathy for people living outside established norms. This new dual biography, based on years of research by Michael Squires, captures the essence of Lawrence and Frieda, making the couple real, alive, and accessible.

Review Quotes

"A readable and very well-researched look into a complex interpersonal relationship. . . . Squires's expertise on Lawrence is impressive, and he seamlessly integrates his interpretive insights on Lawrence's works with details and analysis of the couple's lives. . . . Highly recommended for all readership levels."--CHOICE

"Squires has returned once again to what Diana Trilling called 'the lunacy' of the Lawrence marriage to take account of the fresh perspective made available by hundreds of Frieda's unpublished letters."--Frances Wilson, Times Literary Supplement

"Like a masterful novelist, Michael Squires deftly dramatizes the narrative arc of Frieda and Lawrence; and like an excellent researcher, he is in command of his sources, choosing telling details that make the couple's relationship both intense and human. With lucid prose and brilliant insights, this portrait is a model of the art of literary biography."--Paul Sorrentino, author of Stephen Crane: A Life of Fire

About the Author

Michael Squires, professor emeritus of English at Virginia Tech, is the author or editor of eight books related to D. H. Lawrence, including the Cambridge Edition of Lady Chatterley's Lover.