Agnes Grey

Overview & Synopsis

Agnes Grey is the debut novel of English author
Anne Bronte, first published in December 1847, and republished in a second
edition in 1850.The novel follows Agnes Grey, a governess, as she works in
several bourgeois families. Scholarship and comments by Anne's sister Charlotte
Bronte suggest the novel is largely based on Anne Bronte's own experiences as a
governess for five years. Like her sister Charlotte's novel Jane Eyre, it
addresses what the precarious position of governess entailed and how it affected
a young woman.