What Is Anne Bronte's "Agnes Grey"� About?

Anne is the least read of the three famous Bronte sisters, and of her two novels "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" is better known than "Agnes Grey." This is a pity; "Agnes Grey" is a great read.

Agnes is the youngest child of a well-educated but now poor family. Her relatives believe she is too young and silly to earn her living, but Agnes insists on being independent. She finds work as a governess with the wealthy Bloomfield family, and struggles to deal with their horrifically spoilt children until she is dismissed for having failed to "improve" them. Pride and determination impel her to try again; she has more success with the Murray family, whose flighty daughter Rosalie retains a half-scornful affection for her puritanical governess all her life.
Meanwhile Agnes comes to love the local curate, Edward Weston, and eventually they are married. For readers today the interest of the book is mostly in its unsentimental portrayal of the thankless life of a Victorian governess, based largely on Anne Bronte's own experience.