Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence is described as a modern novel for several reasons. First and most obviously, it was written in the modern period. It also has several generic characteristics that make it resemble other works written in the period of the first world war.

First, the work portrays the lower classes in a realistic, rather than idealized, fashion, something also found in earlier writers Dickens and Hardy and certain turn-of-the century authors such as Gissing. Rather than an optimistic portrait of a young man rising in class, though, Laurence also portrays what happens to a woman who falls in class. The harsh vision of Paul's mother and negative view of motherhood was considered shocking and modern when the novel was first published.

The deeply Freudian psychological themes and exploration of sexuality in the novel are also considered typically modern and made Laurence's work scandalous. Finally, Paul himself is a "modern" alienated character who does not really find a place in the world.