The Virgin and the Gipsy

The Virgin and the Gypsy is a short novel (or novella) by English author D. H. Lawrence. It was written in 1926 and published posthumously in 1930. Today it is often entitled The Virgin and the Gipsy which can lead to confusion: first and early editions had the spelling Gypsy. The tale relates the story of two sisters, daughters of an Anglican vicar, who return from overseas to a drab, lifeless vicarage in the post-First World War East Midlands. Their mother has run off, a scandal that is not talked about by the family. Their new home is dominated by a blind and selfish grandmother along with her mean-spirited, poisonous daughter. The two girls, Yvette and Lucille, risk being suffocated by the life they now lead at the Vicarage. They try their utmost every day to bring colour and fun into their lives.