Agnes Grey

Written when she was twenty-six, Agnes Grey is Anne Bronte's first novel. It tells the story of a rector's daughter who has to earn her living as a governess when her family enters a financial crisis. Drawing directly from her own experiences, Anne Bronte set out to describe the immense pressures that the governess' life the frustration, the isolation, and the insensitive and cruel treatment on the part of employers and their families. Mature, insightful, and edged with a quiet irony, this debut displays a keen sense of moral responsibility and sharp eye for bourgeois attitudes and behavior-and the corrosive power of wealth.