Exactly how steamy is this story?
R
If you're comparing Sons and Lovers to Lawrence's later book, Lady Chatterley's Lover, then you'll think it's pretty tame. But if you understand just how creepy all the Mrs. Morel-Paul romanticism truly is, or the not-so-subtle ways that Lawrence compares tons of interactions to sex in this book, then yes, you're going to feel a little steam coming off of the pages.
And, while the book doesn't drop language bombs the way Chatterley's Lover does, it has some fairly spicy descriptions about what happens right before sex. Like this:
He never forgot seeing her as she lay on the bed, when he was unfastening his collar. First he saw only her beauty, and was blind with it. She had the most beautiful body he had ever imagined. (11.179)
Sometimes, the descriptions get even more intense:
He sunk his mouth on her throat, where he felt her heavy pulse beat under his lips. (12.141)
You get the idea. Even though there aren't many direct descriptions of genitals in this book, it's probably not something you'd want to read to your eight-year-old nephews as a bedtime story.