The Trespasser (novel)

The Trespasser is a 1912 novel by D. H. Lawrence. Set mostly on the Isle of Wight, it tells the story of Siegmund, a married man with children, and his adulterous affair with Helena.

Originally it was titled the Saga of Siegmund and drew upon the experiences of a friend of Lawrence, Helen Corke, and her adulterous relationship with a married man that ended with his suicide. Lawrence worked from Corke's diary, with her permission, but also urged her to publish; which she did in 1933 as Neutral Ground.

Reception
The biographer Brenda Maddox writes in D. H. Lawrence: The Story of a Marriage (1994) that The Trespasser was reviewed by the translator Constance Garnett, who found its last fifty pages comparable in quality to the work of "the best Russian school."

Adaptation
Lawrence's novel was adapted into a 1981 television film starring Alan Bates as Siegmund; Pauline Moran as Helena; Margaret Whiting as Beatrice, wife of Siegmund; and Dinah Stabb as Louisa, Helena's friend; among others. It was directed by Colin Gregg and written by Hugh Stoddart.

Standard edition

 * The Trespasser (1912), edited by Elizabeth Mansfield, Cambridge University Press, 1981, ISBN 0-521-22264-8