The Rainbow — D.H. Lawrence

This novel by the author of Sons and Lovers follows three generations of a family in rapidly changing England.
 
One of the Modern Library's 100 best English-language novels of the twentieth century
 
In a story ranging from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth, The Rainbow explores the passions and relationships experienced by each generation of the Brangwen family as the world around them grows more urban and industrialized. Tom Brangwen is a farmer who does not venture beyond the east Midlands and makes his home with a Polish widow named Lydia. Lydia's daughter, Anna, suffers through a troubled marriage. And her daughter, Ursula -- whose story continues in Lawrence's sequel, Women in Love -- receives an advanced education and finds herself in a society far more sophisticated and fast-paced than that of her forebears. Ursula yearns for something more and seeks to sate a deep hunger in both her body and soul.
 
A daring, sensual novel by the author of Lady Chatterley's Lover and other modern classics, The Rainbow was banned in England for years, and is now considered one of the greatest works of twentieth-century literature.