Agnes Grey

By Anne Bronte

Anne Bronte’s first novel, first published in 1847, “Agnes Grey” tells the story of its title character, a young girl who works as a governess for families of the English gentry. Bronte based this novel on her own experiences as a governess and depicts the loneliness, isolation, and vulnerability of the position. The novel begins with the Grey family falling on hard financial times and a young Agnes taking a job as a governess to both help her family and show her maturity and independence. She begins work with the wealthy Bloomfield family and is shocked to find them cruel, shallow, and unfair. The position does not last long and soon she is back home with her own family and planning to try again. She finds a place in the Murray household, which is even wealthier than her previous employer. While her situation has improved, she is still marginalized and lonely. In the end, Agnes finds happiness and fulfillment on her own terms. “Agnes Grey” is a stern rebuke of the shallowness of the upper class of Bronte’s time and a beautifully written account of the challenges faced by young women born without many opportunities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Digireads.com Publishing
• Release date: Feb 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9781420959840

Anne Bronte

Anne Brontë (1820–1849) hailed from an English literary family responsible for some of the medium’s most memorable works. She was the youngest of six children that included sisters, Charlotte and Emily. Their father was a clergyman, who raised them in a parish with very little money. As an adult, Anne took a position as a governess to financially support herself but found the position difficult and unfulfilling. In 1846, she and her sisters published a collection of poetry called Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, which marked a humble beginning to a short yet impactful career.

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AGNES GREY

By ANNE BRONTE

Agnes Grey

By Anne Bronte

Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-6080-8

eBook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-5984-0

This edition copyright © 2018. Digireads.com Publishing.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Cover Image: a detail of Portrait of a Lady (w/c with gouache on paper), by Octavius Oakley (1800-67) / Private Collection / Photo © The Maas Gallery, London / Bridgeman Images.

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CONTENTS

Chapter I. The Parsonage

Chapter II. First Lessons in the Art of Instruction

Chapter III. A Few More Lessons

Chapter IV. The Grandmamma

Chapter V. The Uncle

Chapter VI. The Parsonage Again

Chapter VII. Horton Lodge

Chapter VIII. The ‘Coming Out’

Chapter IX. The Ball

Chapter X. The Church

Chapter XI. The Cottagers

Chapter XII. The Shower

Chapter XIII. The Primroses

Chapter XIV. The Rector

Chapter XV. The Walk

Chapter XVI. The Substitution

Chapter XVII. Confessions

Chapter XVIII. Mirth and Mourning

Chapter XIX. The Letter

Chapter XX. The Farewell

Chapter XXI. The School

Chapter XXII. The Visit

Chapter XXIII. The Park

Chapter XXIV. The Sands

Chapter XXV. Conclusion

Chapter I. The Parsonage

All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity, that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut. Whether this be the case with my history or not, I am hardly competent to judge. I sometimes think it might prove useful to some, and entertaining to others; but the world may judge for itself. Shielded by my own obscurity, and by the lapse of years, and a few fictitious names, I do not fear to venture; and will candidly lay before the public what I would not disclose to the most intimate friend.

My father was a clergyman of the north of England, who was deservedly respected by all who knew him; and, in his younger days, lived pretty comfortably on the joint income of a small incumbency and a snug little property of his own. My mother, who married him against the wishes of her friends, was a squire’s daughter, and a woman of spirit. In vain it was represented to her, that if she became the poor parson’s wife, she must relinquish her carriage and her lady’s-maid, and all the luxuries and elegancies of affluence; which to her were little less than the necessaries of life. A carriage and a lady’s-maid were great conveniences; but, thank heaven, she had feet to carry her, and hands to minister to her own necessities. An elegant house and spacious grounds were not to be despised; but she would rather live in a cottage with Richard Grey than in a palace with any other man in the world.

Finding arguments of no avail, her father, at length, told the lovers they might marry if they pleased; but, in so doing, his daughter would forfeit every fraction of her fortune. He expected this would cool the ardour of both; but he was mistaken. My father knew too well my mother’s superior worth not to be sensible that she was a valuable fortune in herself: and if she would but consent to embellish his humble hearth he should be happy to take her on any terms; while she, on her part, would rather labour with her own hands than be divided from the man she loved, whose happiness it would be her joy to make, and who was already one with her in heart and soul. So her fortune went to swell the purse of a wiser sister, who had married a rich nabob; and she, to the wonder and compassionate regret of all who knew her, went to bury herself in the homely village parsonage among the hills of-. And yet, in spite of all this, and in spite of my mother’s high spirit and my father’s whims, I believe you might search all England through, and fail to find a happier couple.

Of six children, my sister Mary and myself were the only two that survived the perils of infancy and early childhood. I, being the younger by five or six years, was always regarded as the child, and the pet of the family: father, mother, and sister, all combined to spoil me—not by foolish indulgence, to render me fractious and ungovernable, but by ceaseless kindness, to make me too helpless and dependent—too unfit for buffeting with the cares and turmoils of life.

Mary and I were brought up in the strictest seclusion. My mother, being at once highly accomplished, well informed, and fond of employment, took the whole charge of our education on herself, with the exception of Latin—which my father undertook to teach us—so that we never even went to school; and, as there was no society in the neighbourhood, our only intercourse with the world consisted in a stately tea-party, now and then, with the principal farmers and tradespeople of the vicinity (just to avoid being stigmatized as too proud to consort with our neighbours), and an annual visit to our paternal grandfather’s; where himself, our kind grandmamma, a maiden aunt, and two or three elderly ladies and gentlemen, were the only persons we ever saw. Sometimes our mother would amuse us with stories and anecdotes of her younger days, which, while they entertained us amazingly, frequently awoke—in me, at least—a secret wish to see a little more of the world.

I thought she must have been very happy: but she never seemed to regret past times. My father, however, whose temper was neither tranquil nor cheerful by nature, often unduly vexed himself with thinking of the sacrifices his dear wife had made for him; and troubled his head with revolving endless schemes for the augmentation of his little fortune, for her sake and ours. In vain my mother assured him she was quite satisfied; and if he would but lay by a little for the children, we should all have plenty, both for time present and to come: but saving was not my father’s forte. He would not run in debt (at least, my mother took good care he should not), but while he had money he must spend it: he liked to see his house comfortable, and his wife and daughters well clothed, and well attended; and besides, he was charitably disposed, and liked to give to the poor, according to his means: or, as some might think, beyond them.

At length, however, a kind friend suggested to him a means of doubling his private property at one stroke; and further increasing it, hereafter, to an untold amount. This friend was a merchant, a man of enterprising spirit and undoubted talent, who was somewhat straitened in his mercantile pursuits for want of capital; but generously proposed to give my father a fair share of his profits, if he would only entrust him with what he could spare; and he thought he might safely promise that whatever sum the latter chose to put into his hands, it should bring him in cent per cent. The small patrimony was speedily sold, and the whole of its price was deposited in the hands of the friendly merchant; who as promptly proceeded to ship his cargo, and prepare for his voyage.

My father was delighted, so were we all, with our brightening prospects. For the present, it is true, we were reduced to the narrow income of the curacy; but my father seemed to think there was no necessity for scrupulously restricting our expenditure to that; so, with a standing bill at Mr. Jackson’s, another at Smith’s, and a third at Hobson’s, we got along even more comfortably than before: though my mother affirmed we had better keep within bounds, for our prospects of wealth were but precarious, after all; and if my father would only trust everything to her management, he should never feel himself stinted: but he, for once, was incorrigible.

What happy hours Mary and I have passed while sitting at our work by the fire, or wandering on the heath-clad hills, or idling under the weeping birch (the only considerable tree in the garden), talking of future happiness to ourselves and our parents, of what we would do, and see, and possess; with no firmer foundation for our goodly superstructure than the riches that were expected to flow in upon us from the success of the worthy merchant’s speculations. Our father was nearly as bad as ourselves; only that he affected not to be so much in earnest: expressing his bright hopes and sanguine expectations in jests and playful sallies, that always struck me as being exceedingly witty and pleasant. Our mother laughed with delight to see him so hopeful and happy: but still she feared he was setting his heart too much upon the matter; and once I heard her whisper as she left the room, ‘God grant he be not disappointed! I know not how he would bear it.’

Disappointed he was; and bitterly, too. It came like a thunder-clap on us all, that the vessel which contained our fortune had been wrecked, and gone to the bottom with all its stores, together with several of the crew, and the unfortunate merchant himself. I was grieved for him; I was grieved for the overthrow of all our air-built castles: but, with the elasticity of youth, I soon recovered the shook.

Though riches had charms, poverty had no terrors for an inexperienced girl like me. Indeed, to say the truth, there was something exhilarating in the idea of being driven to straits, and thrown upon our own resources. I only wished papa, mamma, and Mary were all of the same mind as myself; and then, instead of lamenting past calamities we might all cheerfully set to work to remedy them; and the greater the difficulties, the harder our present privations, the greater should be our cheerfulness to endure the latter, and our vigour to contend against the former.

Mary did not lament, but she brooded continually over the misfortune, and sank into a state of dejection from which no effort of mine could rouse her. I could not possibly bring her to regard the matter on its bright side as I did: and indeed I was so fearful of being charged with childish frivolity, or stupid insensibility, that I carefully kept most of my bright ideas and cheering notions to myself; well knowing they could not be appreciated.

My mother thought only of consoling my father, and paying our debts and retrenching our expenditure by every available means; but my father was completely overwhelmed by the calamity: health, strength, and spirits sank beneath the blow, and he never wholly recovered them. In vain my mother strove to cheer him, by appealing to his piety, to his courage, to his affection for herself and us. That very affection was his greatest torment: it was for our sakes he had so ardently longed to increase his fortune—it was our interest that had lent such brightness to his hopes, and that imparted such bitterness to his present distress. He now tormented himself with remorse at having neglected my mother’s advice; which would at least have saved him from the additional burden of debt—he vainly reproached himself for having brought her from the dignity, the ease, the luxury of her former station to toil with him through the cares and toils of poverty. It was gall and wormwood to his soul to see that splendid, highly-accomplished woman, once so courted and admired, transformed into an active managing housewife, with hands and head continually occupied with household labours and household economy. The very willingness with which she performed these duties, the cheerfulness with which she bore her reverses, and the kindness which withheld her from imputing the smallest blame to him, were all perverted by this ingenious self-tormentor into further aggravations of his sufferings. And thus the mind preyed upon the body, and disordered the system of the nerves, and they in turn increased the troubles of the mind, till by action and reaction his health was seriously impaired; and not one of us could convince him that the aspect of our affairs was not half so gloomy, so utterly hopeless, as his morbid imagination represented it to be.

The useful pony phaeton was sold, together with the stout, well-fed pony—the old favourite that we had fully determined should end its days in peace, and never pass from our hands; the little coach-house and stable were let; the servant boy, and the more efficient (being the more expensive) of the two maid-servants, were dismissed. Our clothes were mended, turned, and darned to the utmost verge of decency; our food, always plain, was now simplified to an unprecedented degree—except my father’s favourite dishes; our coals and candles were painfully economized—the pair of candles reduced to one, and that most sparingly used; the coals carefully husbanded in the half-empty grate: especially when my father was out on his parish duties, or confined to bed through illness—then we sat with our feet on the fender, scraping the perishing embers together from time to time, and occasionally adding a slight scattering of the dust and fragments of coal, just to keep them alive. As for our carpets, they in time were worn threadbare, and patched and darned even to a greater extent than our garments. To save the expense of a gardener, Mary and I undertook to keep the garden in order; and all the cooking and household work that could not easily be managed by one servant-girl, was done by my mother and sister, with a little occasional help from me: only a little, because, though a woman in my own estimation, I was still a child in theirs; and my mother, like most active, managing women, was not gifted with very active daughters: for this reason—that being so clever and diligent herself, she was never tempted to trust her affairs to a deputy, but, on the contrary, was willing to act and think for others as well as for number one; and whatever was the business in hand, she was apt to think that no one could do it so well as herself: so that whenever I offered to assist her, I received such an answer as—‘No, love, you cannot indeed—there’s nothing here you can do. Go and help your sister, or get her to take a walk with you—tell her she must not sit so much, and stay so constantly in the house as she does—she may well look thin and dejected.’

‘Mary, mamma says I’m to help you; or get you to take a walk with me; she says you may well look thin and dejected, if you sit so constantly in the house.’

‘Help me you cannot, Agnes; and I cannot go out with you—I have far too much to do.’

‘Then let me help you.’

‘You cannot, indeed, dear child. Go and practise your music, or play with the kitten.’

There was always plenty of sewing on hand; but I had not been taught to cut out a single garment, and except plain hemming and seaming, there was little I could do, even in that line; for they both asserted that it was far easier to do the work themselves than to prepare it for me: and besides, they liked better to see me prosecuting my studies, or amusing myself—it was time enough for me to sit bending over my work, like a grave matron, when my favourite little pussy was become a steady old cat. Under such circumstances, although I was not many degrees more useful than the kitten, my idleness was not entirely without excuse.

Through all our troubles, I never but once heard my mother complain of our want of money. As summer was coming on she observed to Mary and me, ‘What a desirable thing it would be for your papa to spend a few weeks at a watering-place. I am convinced the sea-air and the change of scene would be of incalculable service to him. But then, you see, there’s no money,’ she added, with a sigh.

We both wished exceedingly that the thing might be done, and lamented greatly that it could not.

‘Well, well!’ said she, ‘it’s no use complaining. Possibly something might be done to further the project after all. Mary, you are a beautiful drawer. What do you say to doing a few more pictures in your best style, and getting them framed, with the water-coloured drawings you have already done, and trying to dispose of them to some liberal picture-dealer, who has the sense to discern their merits?’

‘Mamma, I should be delighted if you think they could be sold; and for anything worth while.’

‘It’s worth while trying, however, my dear: do you procure the drawings, and I’ll endeavour to find a purchaser.’

‘I wish I could do something,’ said I.

‘You, Agnes! well, who knows? You draw pretty well, too: if you choose some simple piece for your subject, I daresay you will be able to produce something we shall all be proud to exhibit.’

‘But I have another scheme in my head, mamma, and have had long, only I did not like to mention it.’

‘Indeed! pray tell us what it is.’

‘I should like to be a governess.’

My mother uttered an exclamation of surprise, and laughed. My sister dropped her work in astonishment, exclaiming, ‘You a governess, Agnes! What can you be dreaming of?’

‘Well! I don’t see anything so very extraordinary in it. I do not pretend to be able to instruct great girls; but surely I could teach little ones: and I should like it so much: I am so fond of children. Do let me, mamma!’

‘But, my love, you have not learned to take care of yourself yet: and young children require more judgment and experience to manage than elder ones.’

‘But, mamma, I am above eighteen, and quite able to take care of myself, and others too. You do not know half the wisdom and prudence I possess, because I have never been tried.’

‘Only think,’ said Mary, ‘what would you do in a house full of strangers, without me or mamma to speak and act for you—with a parcel of children, besides yourself, to attend to; and no one to look to for advice? You would not even know what clothes to put on.’

‘You think, because I always do as you bid me, I have no judgment of my own: but only try me—that is all I ask—and you shall see what I can do.’

At that moment my father entered and the subject of our discussion was explained to him.

‘What, my little Agnes a governess!’ cried he, and, in spite of his dejection, he laughed at the idea.

‘Yes, papa, don’t you say anything against it: I should like it so much; and I am sure I could manage delightfully.’

‘But, my darling, we could not spare you.’ And a tear glistened in his eye as he added—‘No, no! afflicted as we are, surely we are not brought to that pass yet.’

‘Oh, no!’ said my mother. ‘There is no necessity whatever for such a step; it is merely a whim of her own. So you must hold your tongue, you naughty girl; for, though you are so ready to leave us, you know very well we cannot part with you.’

I was silenced for that day, and for many succeeding ones; but still I did not wholly relinquish my darling scheme. Mary got her drawing materials, and steadily set to work. I got mine too; but while I drew, I thought of other things.

How delightful it would be to be a governess! To go out into the world; to enter upon a new life; to act for myself; to exercise my unused faculties; to try my unknown powers; to earn my own maintenance, and something to comfort and

Reviews for Agnes Grey

[akblanchard_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Shy, retiring Agnes Grey is ill-suited to the role of governess, yet due to her family’s financial problems and the limited job prospects for genteel young women in Victorian England, she is forced to serve in this disagreeable position. The families she works for are caricatures of the haughty and dissolute rich. Agnes always manages to hide her true feelings and carry on. I enjoyed this brief novel even more than I thought I would. Recommended.

[jbd1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Even though not a whole lot happens, I quite enjoyed this short novel, as well as the background material included in the edition I read. This is the start of a bit of a Brontë binge, because, well, what better to do during this oddest of springs?

[electrascaife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A young, middle-class woman in mid-1800s England gets a harsh awakening from her sheltered life when she seeks employment as a governess to two different upper-class families. Mistreated by both the snobby employers and her charges *and* the lower-class servants, she leads a snubbed and lonely life.Slow to start (I'm still not certain what the point of the first third of the novel was, really), but once it gets going, I enjoyed Miss Grey's story. I especially enjoyed the quiet simplicity of the love story bit. It was interesting, too, how Anne tells the story of the governess life in a much different, much more realistic and everyday style than her sister, Charlotte.

[chrisblocker · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's not fair that I'm always grouping "The Brontë Sisters" and comparing their respective works with one another. I'm not the only one who does this, though.At this point, I've now read everything from Emily and Anne, and only Jane Eyre from Charlotte. Stylistically, they're similar, but each has their own distinctive flair. Though Anne is probably the least recognized of the three sisters, I'd put her right up there with Emily.I thought Agnes Grey started particularly strong. In fact, of the Brontë works I've read thus far, this one probably hooked me the fastest. The backstory regarding Agnes's family and the details of her first assignment as governess were very entertaining and evocative.Midway, my attention did wane. The subsequent assignment and all that came with it just didn't hold my attention the same. Despite a stellar start, Agnes Grey is probably the least overall memorable of the stories I've read.I regret that more of Anne's and Emily's work doesn't still exist.

[antao-3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

(Original Review, 1981-02-06)I read "Agnes Grey" after a visit to the Mosteiros dos Jerónimos, supposing I ought to try the lesser known sister after reading so much of Charlotte's work and of course “Wuthering Heights.” What a wonderful surprise. Anne had me at "...she would rather live in a cottage with Richard Grey than in a palace with any other man in the world." It's a beautiful novel and undeservedly overlooked. The tone is on the surface much less dark, but Anne pulls no punches about women's oppression and the appalling behaviour of the 'noble' families she had the misfortune to encounter in her time as a governess. The dialogue reminds me of Jane Austen in places, exchanges that are gently witty and scathing. Mr. Weston is something of an unassuming romantic interest, but coming to the novel as an adult I rather more appreciate Anne's quietly decent men than the Byronic sociopaths her sisters were obsessed with. For me the novel is more about women. Agnes' relationship with her mother is genuinely touching, imbued with Anne's longing for her own. The final meeting between Agnes and Rosalie juxtaposing their characters and fates, now firmly fixed, is haunting stuff. Anne's heroines are not defined by the men they love, but by their own convictions and resources - how refreshing even in 1981!

[over.the.edge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

# 13 of 100 Classics Challenge

Agnes Grey🍒🍒🍒🍒
By Anne Bronte
1847

Partially influenced by her personal experience as a governess, Anne Bronte takes us into her world of the humble, mistreated and overworked governesses, with horribly undisciplined mean children of the rich.She falls for an impossible man, but eventually finds true love. And happiness.A great classic. My first Anne Bronte and not my last.

[griffin22 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I looked at several reviews of Agnes Grey before reading it, but they were so varied in opinion I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t find the heroine as insipid as many readers did; although she mostly failed to change the children in her charge she never failed to try to the best of her abilities, including physical means; and remaining polite and ‘in her place’ didn’t mean she lacked strong feelings.Where I felt the novel lacked power was in its romance. The only thing holding the two apart was their inability to meet often. There was nothing like Pride and Prejudice’s Elizabeth and Darcy having to accept their own faults and evolve into better people - Agnes and Mr Weston are both essentially perfect and only require a little leisure time to get to know each other so that doubts about each other’s feelings can be overcome.

[m.belljackson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Anne Bronte delivers a finely detailed account of the depressing trials of a untrained and timid young governess and her ruthless charges.She unfortunately gains little in self confidence as she moves with her mother to teach in their own school at the seaside.Mr. Weston, her concealed love interest, acts in his own secretive manner, as artful as the manipulations Agnes Grey despises in Miss Matilda,yet Agnes does not fault him for his many months of needless silence.His sterling act in her direction is the purchase of the dog, Snap. There is no reason given why Agnes did not purchase and so save the dog from cruelty herself.

[infjsarah · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am glad I read this. It wasn't terrible but compared to "Tenant" I would never believe it was written by the same woman. It's just rather dull. Agnes is self-righteous and to our modern eyes rather a wimp. Yes her charges are horrible little monsters and a reader can't judge her by our modern standards but "Tenant" has issues which are no longer relevant in it and it's still a great book. So of some interest but flawed. The fact that it has never been filmed probably about sums it up.

[rmckeown_9 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am resolved to work my way through all the novels by the Brontë sisters – Ann, Emily, and Charlotte. Agnes Grey is Anne’s first of her two novels. Anne was born January 17, 1820. She was a novelist and a poet. She spent most of her life with her family at the parish church of Haworth on the Yorkshire moors. She was a governess from 1839 to 1845. Agnes Grey was published in 1847. Anne died May 28, 1849.She drew on her experiences at Haworth and as a governess in writing the novel. The first paragraph sets forth her ideas on writing a novel. She wrote, “All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry shriveled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut. Whether this be the case with my history or not, I am hardly competent to judge; I sometimes think it might prove useful to some, and entertaining to others, but the world my judge for itself: shielded by my own obscurity, and by the lapse of years, and a few fictitious names, I do not fear to venture, and will candidly lay before the public what I would not disclose to the most intimate friend” (1). Every time I delve into one of the Brontës, I can not help to hear their voices—soft, gentle, erudite—as I imagine them to be.As was frequently the case in those days, a writer was at the mercy of the typesetters. In a letter to her publisher, she wrote, “There are numerous literal errors, and the text of Agnes Grey is marred by various peculiarities of punctuation, especially in the use of commas (some of these, however, may be authorial)” (xi). She began revising the text, and a copy of the third volume has “some 121 revisions made in pencil in her hand, many of them involving quite significant substantive alterations” (xi). James Joyce faced the same problem with Ulysses with typesetters who could not read English. I corrected the text for many years—nearly up to his death.Anne’s novel is considered quite an achievement. As the novel proceeds, she becomes more confident. Here is a conversation between Anne and Rosalie: “‘If you mean Mr. Weston to be one of your victims,’ said I, with affected indifference, ‘you will have to make such overtures yourself, that you will find it difficult to draw back when he asks you to fulfil the expectations you have raised’ // [Anne’s reply] ‘I don’t suppose he will ask me to marry him—nor should I desire it … that would be rather too much presumption! But I intend him to feel my power—he has felt it already, indeed—but he shall acknowledge it too; and what visionary hopes he may have, he must keep to himself, and only amuse me with the result of them—for a time’” (xii).As the Introduction to my paperback copy points out, “Agnes Grey is undoubtedly in many ways a deeply personal novel’ (xii). “Charlotte Brontë described the work as ‘the mirror of the mind of the writer” (xii-xiii). One of the things that Anne emphasized in her novels, comes right out of her experiences as a governess. The treatment of these young women was nothing less than atrocious. Agnes Grey speaks with the authority of experience. In addition, her moral and religious sensibilities are evident throughout the novel.I hope this taste of a fantastically talented young writer will inspire you to snuggle up with Anne Brontë and delve into Agnes Grey. All you need is a cup of tea, some patience, and the reward is a thoroughly satisfying picture of young women in England of the 1840s. 5 stars!--Jim, 12/6/17

[nx74defiant · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Anne is very under appreciated.I like her more realistic style.The book is told in the first person by Agnes. As a governess Agnes is given no real authority to punish her charges. So of course they feel free to disrespect her.

[lynn_barker_14 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Agnes wants to prove herself and help her family by working as a governess. Her family try to dissuade her, thinking she is too young and not competent. Her first job is to teach two little uncooperative imps from the nether regions. The parents don't allow her to discipline the two, yet criticize her for not being able to control them. The only way she can get the little boy to pay attention to his lesson is to back him into a corner and not let him go until she gets a response. Meanwhile, he incites the little sister to throw Agnes' work bag in the fire, or toss her letters out the window. When the governess goes to rescue her possessions, the boy escapes his lessons after all. These are the first in a series of horrid children we meet in the novel. Agnes never loses her patience and feels quiet consistency and kindness will eventually win over her charges. Poor Anne was obviously writing from experience. I got a little irritated with the novel's heroine at times. She's a little too much of a victim, and constantly emphasizing the contrast between her employers' lack of character and her own moral superiority. Worthwhile reading.

[clara53_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this book with more interest than I would have anticipated - written as it was by the youngest and least known of the three Bronte sisters. The heroine is appealing - with her goodness, her thoroughly honorable intentions, and idealistic views. There is a lot of "black and white" sort of thing (characters are either extremely virtuous or very evil), but this was Anne Bronte's first novel (first of the two, before she died still young), and had she lived, I am sure she would have matured much more as a writer. Her command of the language of the period is very good.

[annbury_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Unexpected and involving -- this is the first novel I've read by "the other Bronte", and it was both a big surprise and an engrossing read. Anne Bronte, of course was the youngest of the Bronte sisters; she wrote two novels before her death at the age of 29. She has nothing like the literary reputation of her two sisters, Emily and Charlotte. Some would argue that had something to do with Charlotte's comments after Anne's death, but it also reflects a very different style.For me, the surprise in "Agnes Grey" was how little it reminded me of the work of Charlotte and Emily. There's much in common (especially with Charlotte), most of which reflects the Brontes' own lives -- an initial setting in Yorkshire, a close if impoverished clerical family background, a strongly moral view of life. But "Agnes" is far less dramatic than the works of the elder Brontes, far more concerned with social distinctions, and far more focussed on marriage. The mood is very different; realistic rather than romantic, and social rather than isolated. And the style is also very different; very clear, very objective, and decidedly (part of the time) ironic. All in all, "Agnes Grey" reminds me more of Jane Austen than of the elder Brontes, especially the Jane of "Mansfield Park". Like Fanny Brice in "Mansfield", Anne Bronte's Agnes is an outsider and social inferior in her milieu, and is also much involved with personal morality. She can in fact lapse into priggishness, but not too often, and there are hints of potentially radical social views beneath the mid- Victorian morality. Many of the minor characters (particularly the nasty ones) are one dimensional, but the dimension is brilliantly sketched out. For me, this was an engrossing read, and I would recommend it to readers who enjoy Victorian literature, but have not yet experienced Anne Bronte. I shall put her other novel, "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" on my to-read list.

[ashryan_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a novel that follows the plight of a young woman forced into the position of a governess to make ends meet, Anne Bronte's Agnes Grey has of course often been compared with her sister's more famous novel Jane Eyre. And as a love story, it has also been compared with the novels of Jane Austen. It even reminded me a little of the cautionary morality tales that had been popular up to that time, such as Defoe's Moll Flanders.Personally, I enjoyed it more than Pride and Prejudice, but not as much as Jane Eyre. It just doesn't have the same scope and depth. That said, it is a nice little novel, and interesting, and sometimes very funny. Well worth reading.

[ctpress_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It can be discussed how great a classic this is. Certainly not anything like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Maybe even just a classic because, well, she's the third sister….and yet, here I've read it again - and enjoyed it even more this second time. Based on Anne's own experiences as an underpaid and unappreciated governess - we follow the naive and timid Agnes Grey as she's starting a new life as a governess. Her gentle and meek nature are certainly worthy of praise, but not the best weapons to tame two wild unruling children - she is simply run over by the double trouble. Then she moves on to another post - to take care of two conceited teenage girls.Not is all gloom. There's people to meet in the local church - the new priest, Mr. Weston is one of them - and he seems to have perception enough to see Agnes' good character and noble heart.Agnes is one of those girls who go through life unnoticed (maybe like Anne Brontë herself?) - she's willing to suffer and be ignored and bullied - above and beyond duty - long after we mere mortals have run away. She's "downstairs" and "upstairs" keep reminding her of that fact.I believe Anne must have enjoyed getting this story out of her system so to speak. Like a therapeutic thing - giving expression to all the unfair treatment she herself suffered.

[rosecityreader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Nanny Diaries of the 19th Century.

[missjomarch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very simple and heart- warming story based on the author's own experience as a governess. Anne Bronte does very well to engage the reader into a personal account of Agnes and the two positions she held to assist her own family's income. The challenges she faces dealing with over-indulged and disrespectful children would make any woman grateful that there are more choices for employment in the modern world. I adore the Bronte sisters and enjoyed this quick read.

[getrus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Agnes is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Grey, a pastor and his wife, who begins a career as a governess in order to supplement the family's income. She goes through many trials with first a family of young children and then with a family of two older girls, who while she is there, one has her coming out and is eventually married.Agnes then helps her mother open a small school after the death of her father. It is here where she is reacquainted with Mr. Weston who she, of course, marries after a while. (She met Mr. Weston at her second position.)This book was a good portrayal of the conditions of the working governess and the folly of mothers and daughters looking for a good match . It was a bit slow in places, but overall really good.

[ccookie_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First lines:~ All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut ~ Agnes Grey follows the life of a young woman who sets out to work to financially help her Victorian minister father who is unable to support his family due to ill health.I enjoyed the book which chronicles Agnes' two jobs as governess to other people's children. She describes very competently, the challenges that are faced when raising children in the parents absence, unable to properly discipline them, and forced to tolerate abuse or risk losing the job. This had me thinking that we have not progressed very far since 1847 when this book was published. I am currently reading 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett and she details similar issues in her book written in 2011 but set in the early to mid 1960's, 120 years after Anne Bronte wrote 'Agnes Grey'.I loved Bronte's sense of humour throughout the book. She had me really chuckling. If there is one criticism it is that everything wraps up so nicely at the end. Our heroine is married and has her own children and everything is picture perfect. But, I guess that this happy ending is the Victorian Style; well written and very enjoyable

[bleached_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like her sisters, Anne Bronte is a truly talented writer. While one sister leans more toward romanticism, the other toward morbidity, Anne is in the middle with realism. Her characters portray the nature of humanity in all their flaws and strengths.A heart-warming tale of Agnes who, wanting to help her family's financial situation, becomes a governess. The first family is a nightmare, children are ill-mannered and the parents put all the blame on her for their lack of discipline.Luckily, her second situation was easier, though far from perfect. Through it all she manages to make it through, despite making no head way in morality with her pupils, and even finds Mr. Weston, the man who captures her heart.

[britt84 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A short novel by Anne Brontë. Agnes Grey starts working a a governess and tells us of her life. Though it is a nice read, it is not outstanding and quite predictable.I did not find Agnes very likeable. She seems quite arrogant and very self-righteous, very sure of herself. She comments a lot on the families that she's working for, and though I agree that the children are horrible little brats, it also seems like she might have underestimated the job, and overestimated her own abilities.

[nabilah_50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It is a such a simple story created by the unjustly less popular of the Bronte sisters, Anne Bronte. But simple as they are, the story is very pleasant. Without a complex and dark story, this novel manages to engage me with its words alone.

[the_hibernator · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When the Grey family begins to have financial problems, Agnes, a sheltered minister's daughter, begins life as a governess. She is shocked and appalled by how she is treated and what miracles she is expected to achieve. This book is a social commentary on the treatment of governesses and unruly children. It also touches on the charms of marrying for love instead of money. It was a quick read, but rather unexceptional.

[amerynth · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Based upon her own experiences as a governess to two wealthy families, Anne Bronte's "Agnes Grey" is an interesting look at a world with very big class divides. I enjoyed the book, which was a super quick read, but found it's greatest interest lay not in its literary strength, but on the true life experiences it drew upon.Agnes, the daughter of a clergyman, becomes a governess to help with her family's financial troubles. She attends to two different families during her career -- one with a set of spoiled, troublesome tots and another with older, carefree teens who care little for learning, instead yearning for more frivolous activities. Agnes attempts through patience, kindness and gentle instruction to make a different in the lives of these folks with little success.The book does come across as moralizing and preachy sometimes-- more so than Anne's second (and vastly superior book) "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," which also has a similar sensibility. However, I found there was also a sweetness to it that kept the narrator from crossing the line into annoying-ville. Overall, I found it a decent summer read, but not quite up to par with her other book, or the more well-known books of her sisters.

[karin7-11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Agnes Grey, the youngest child in her family, grows up sheltered and even when she wants to help, is usually sent out to enjoy herself once her studies are done. The daughter of a vicar with a small living and a mother who has been disinherited, she finally sets off to be a governess when her father finds himself in tight straits and she convinces her parents to let her try. Her first posting is wretched. She is with a middle class family who treats her poorly and where the parents refuse to let her discipline their unruly brood of spoiled children. I have little doubt that there were families like that as they exist today. Her next job isn’t a lot better, other than the pay and the size of the house. Here she is again not allowed to discipline the children (the term teenager had not yet been coined), ranging from 10 years old to nearly ready to “come out.” The boys are willful, but are sent off to boarding school one at a time, the eldest a flagrant flirt, and the younger daughter willful. I’ll say no more so that you can discover these characters for yourself.

While any romance like those of Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre (no Heathcliff or Rochester), there are some great lines and insights into the lives of governesses and their charges not found in her sisters’ writings. While I think her second novel is better written, there are many good things about this one, particularly once you get to the part, which takes a great deal of the book, where Agnes is in her second job.

[killerx-2 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Agnes is an idiot. And I only made it through about 60% of this very boring book.

[varielle_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fodder for all romance novelists who followed the Brontes, how many ways can you tell the story of a mousy, governess beset on all sides by poverty, the winds of fate and wicked souls who try, if not her virtue, at least her patience? Yet she victoriously outlasts them all through her basic goodness to win the heart and hand of the right man in the end. Anne Bronte's heroine may be a bit boring, but her wonderfully descriptive passages lift Agnes Grey above the ordinary. Her intense attention to detail and personality are extremely well done, particularly regarding some of the nasty little psychopathic charges Miss Grey had to take in hand and their equally repulsive parents.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was an enjoyable book to read, but I found the plot to be predictable and the characters seemed stereotyped and flat. The plot is a familiar one. A pastor's family falls into financial troubles and one of the daughters has to go into service as a governess. She works for 2 different families - both of them shallow with spoiled children and of course, they treat Agnes like dirt. She keeps her chin up and endures and since this is a Victorian romance, you can imagine the final outcome. I usually love the Victorian marriage plot stories, but I found Agnes to be too much of a goody two shoes. Unlike some other memorable characters, like Jane Eyre, she lacks spunk and let's people walk all over her. Just add 3 miracles and she could be St. Agnes Grey. Still enjoyable, but not a classic that will stay with me.

[lisa.isselee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

a realistic & plain love story. The main character is normal and there isn't anything extravagant about the whole thing. Which makes this book a very nice read, it's a nice change to all the drama filled romance novels you find today.
It was charming & wonderful.