The Real D H Lawrence is something of a misnomer - for who can ever truly know the real Lawrence? Lawrence himself spent a lifetime roaming the depths of his imagination trying to communicate the essence of who he really was - a quest that ultimately gifted the world twelve full-length novels, eight plays, over eight-hundred poems, enough paintings to form an exhibition, travel essays, novellas and short story collections: and a vast catalogue of non-fiction ranging from topics as diverse as European history to psychoanalysis.

In this expertly researched exploration of Lawrence, Caroline Roope offers a captivating re-telling of the enigmatic author's life, from his humble beginnings in the coal mining districts of Nottinghamshire to his final struggle with censorship and his battle to stay alive. Drawing on Lawrence's published works, as well as his vast personal correspondence, The Real D. H. Lawrence offers a fresh insight into Lawrence's creative process; and his stubborn refusal to live anything less than a life that was right for him, in a world he believed had gone terribly wrong.