Fox, the captain's doll, the ladybird (Penguin Books)

These three novellas display D. H. Lawrence's brilliant and insightful evocation of human relationships - both tender and cruel - and the devastating results of war. In "The Fox", two young women living on a small farm during the First World War find their solitary life interrupted. As a fox preys on their poultry, a human predator has the women in his sights. "The Captain's Doll" explores the complex relationship between a German countess and a married Scottish soldier in occupied Germany, while in "The Ladybird" a wounded prisoner of war has a disturbing influence on the Englishwoman who visits him in hospital.