The novel tells of the relationships of two sisters, Ursula and Gudrun, who live in a Midland colliery town in the years before the First World War. Ursula falls in love with Birkin and Gudrun has an intense but tragic affair with Gerald, the son of a local colliery owner."Women in love" is regarded as Lawrence’s supreme masterpiece, where the description of characters and their emotional states is expressed through elaborate symbolism.