Fanny and Annie

'Fanny and Annie' sees Lawrence once more on home ground among the working people he knew so well and whom he wrote about with a mixture of love and yet not quite patronising. The theme of the woman for whom the man is not 'good enough' is worked out fully in Lawrence's novel 'Sons and Lovers' and the story had already been used by Lawrence in his play 'The Daughter in Law' in 1912. The story is beautifully observed as are the relationships in working families of the time. The suspense of 'will she, won't she marry him' is kept on the boil until the last line of the story. 'Fanny and Annie' is a small masterpiece of a short story