Book description
When her family becomes impoverished after a disastrous financial
speculation, Agnes Grey determines to find work as a governess in order
to contribute to their meagre income and assert her independence. But
Agnes's enthusiasm is swiftly extinguished as she struggles first with
the unmanageable Bloomfield children and then with the painful disdain
of the haughty Murray family; the only kindness she receives comes from
Mr Weston, the sober young curate. Drawing on her own experience, Anne
Bront 's first novel offers a compelling personal perspective on the
desperate position of unmarried, educated women for whom becoming a
governess was the only respectable career open in Victorian society.
Anne Bronte was born in 1820, the youngest of the Bronte family. She
was educated at home, and was particularly close to her sister Emily.
Her first novel was AGNES GREY, and it was followed by THE TENANT OF
WILDFELL HALL in 1848, written under a pseudonym. She died in 1849.
Angeline Goreau has also written on Aphra Behn. She is a writer
whose work appears regularly in the New York Times Book Review.
