Set in the rural Midlands of England The Rainbow revolves around three generations of the Brangwens a strong vigorous family deeply involved with the land. When Tom Brangwen marries a Polish widowLydia Lensky and adopts her daughter Anna as his own he is unprepared for the conflict and passion that erupts between them. All are seeking individual fulfilment but it is Ursula Anna's spirited daughter who in search for self-knowledge rejects the conventional role of womanhood.