The Lost Girl

David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) was a versatile and visionary author of novels, short stories, poetry, essays and translations whose reputation has been overshadowed by early censorship and sensationalist memoirs of the 1930s and 40s. He rejected Victorian prudishness and promoted the idea of sexual liberation in a Utopia he wished to see take form. This led to works that were viewed as obscene and pornographic by both literary critics and government officials alike, in what was still a largely Victorian society. His 1920 novel, «The Lost Girl», which has experienced a recent resurgence in popularity, was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize the year it was published. It tells the story of Alvina Houghton, a girl from a middle-class English family who must navigate between a life of safety and propriety in England, and one of sensual desire, awakening and freedom in Naples with a vaudeville performer named Ciccio.