Agnes Grey

Agnes Grey is the youngest daughter of a clergyman. When the family falls on hard times, she insists on finding work as a governess in order to help her family and to prove to them that she's no longer a child. But her idealistic spirit is tested in her first position with the Bloomfield family and their unruly and spoilt children. Next she works for the even wealthier Murray family, whose scheming daughter Rosalie threatens to jeopardize the only bright spot in Agnes's life: the young curate Edward Weston. Drawing on her own experiences, Anne Bronte exposes the isolated world of a nineteenth-century governess in Agnes Grey, her debut novel. This edition is introduced by historian and writer Juliet Barker.