Reviews for Agnes Grey

The average rating for Agnes Grey based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-11-18 00:00:00 Christian Leu Out of all Bronte books Agnes Grey is definitely the one that reads as if written by a pastor's daughter. There is just a very familiar quality to it, a mix of self-righteousness, martyrdom and judgment, characteristic of "Christian" romances (yes, I have read a couple back in the day). Not even once during the course of the novel does Agnes make a mistake and therefore she doesn't evolve, change. She is just the most perfectest creature ever who is mistreated by everyone around her. The beginning part of the novel is particularly jarring in this respect - her never-ending complaints about the family she works for as a governess are annoying. Yes, the kids are spoiled and the parents are ignorant, but Agnes herself has absolutely no experience with kids or teaching and in a dire need of Supernanny's advice. The things are not much better once Agnes moves to her second place of employment. Here, of course, everyone is bad too. (Except the love interest, who is a minister, naturally.) It seems to be Agnes' main purpose to observe and document everyone's follies - from her employees' to fellow servants'. I say enough already. In spite of the whiny voice of the main character and continuous moralizing, the novel is not a complete loss however. Anne Brontë's talent for social critic reveals itself in the latter part of the novel. Her portrayal of naughty Murray sisters is delicious. Dare I say, you can hear the voice of Jane Austen in some of the passages? And how about those spoiled kids who act as if they are serial killers in the making? I can't not give the author credit for writing about that. On the other hand, the romance is a bit of a disappointment. It is nothing like twisted and complex relationships in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. It is a tepid affair, culminating in a "passionate" elbow touching. Oh well, it's not a bad first effort. I know The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is much better.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-11-02 00:00:00 Vicki Hunter It pains me to only give this three stars, mainly because of the tremendous respect I have for what the three Bronte sisters accomplished in their short lives, and because Anne was overshadowed by her older sisters, Charlotte and Emily. Agnes Grey, the first of Anne's two novels (1847), was overshadowed by Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, also published in 1847. But Agnes Grey did two things: one, it gave us insight into Anne's life, her feelings, because it was partly autobiographical, reflecting her experience as a governess for several years; and two, it helped Anne to open up her literary potential which she used to write her second novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. While it is lesser known than her older sister's classic masterpieces, it's quality puts it at the same level of excellence in my opinion. The three sisters, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, died at the ages of 38, 31, and 29. It staggers the mind to think what they may have accomplished if they had lived another 25 or 30 years. But what they did accomplish was literary immortality, all three of them, and for that I say thank you ladies, well done.