Many critics consider The Rainbow to be D. H. Lawrence's best novel, often citing its panoramic yet precisely sketched view of the life over three generations of an English family, the Brangwen's, who begin as farmers. Like the earlier Sons and Lovers (1913; see separate entry), this novel has as a major theme the effect on everyday human life of the rapid cultural changes caused by the Industrial Revolution.

As the book opens with a view of the Marsh Farm, overlooked by the church spire in the distance, there appears to be a sense of permanence, an Eden-like connection to the land, the Church suggesting permanent beliefs. It is not long however, before this sense begins to give way to a veiled threat. While the men turn to the land, which has always been both their livelihood and a source of purpose and dignity, the women look...