Agnes Grey (1847) is the first novel of Anne Brontë, published under the name Acton Bell. Drawn from her own experience, it tells the story of a clergyman's daughter who becomes a governess and endures the cruelty of the rich families she serves.
The story
When her father loses his savings, Agnes Grey decides to earn her living as a governess. With the Bloomfields she faces spoiled, violent children and parents who blame her for everything.
With the Murrays she teaches two vain young ladies, one of whom flirts with the new curate, Edward Weston, whom Agnes loves in silence. After her father's death she opens a school with her mother, and finds happiness again.
From life
Anne Brontë worked as a governess with the Ingham family at Blake Hall in 1839 and with the Robinsons at Thorp Green from 1840 to 1845. Many details of the novel, including the cruelty of a child towards birds, come from these years.
The book is written in a plain, quiet style, very different from her sisters' passionate novels.
Publication
Agnes Grey was published in December 1847 by Thomas Cautley Newby, in the same set of volumes as Emily's Wuthering Heights, after Charlotte's Jane Eyre had appeared. The edition was full of errors.
It was overshadowed by its sisters' novels but has since been admired for its realism. The novelist George Moore called it the most perfect prose narrative in English letters.
Anecdotes
A bad publisher
Newby made the Brontës pay part of the cost of publication, delayed the books for months and printed them carelessly; he also tried to suggest that all the Bell novels were by one author.
Scarborough
The last chapters of Agnes Grey take place at a seaside town, inspired by Scarborough, which Anne loved and where she died in 1849.
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Agnes Grey?
Anne Brontë, under the pen name Acton Bell, in 1847.
Is Agnes Grey autobiographical?
Largely: it draws on Anne Brontë's own years as a governess.
Whom does Agnes marry?
Edward Weston, the kind curate she met while working for the Murray family.