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Agnes Grey: Complete & Unabridged |  | Author: Anne Bronte
Creator: Emilia Fox
Publisher: Chivers Audio Books
Category: Book
List Price: £36.37
Buy New: £29.99
as of 29/7/2010 14:33 MDT details
You Save: £6.38 (18%)
New (4) Used (2) from £23.50
Seller: rollin4you
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 1532288
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio Cassette
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 6
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 6.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0754001652
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780754001652
ASIN: 0754001652
Publication Date: June 1998
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
Fascinating insights into the life of a governess June 5, 2010
H. Skinner (Newcastle, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Although I didn't think this book was as good as Anne Bronte's other novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and it didn't have the feel of a must-read classic like Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, there was still a lot to like about Agnes Grey.
The plot is simple, plain and linear. It's the story of a young woman in 19th century England who goes out to work as a governess when her family fall on hard times. Unfortunately Tom, Mary Ann and Fanny Bloomfield are three of the most badly-behaved children imaginable. When her short, unhappy time with the Bloomfields comes to an end, Agnes finds another situation with two older pupils, Rosalie and Matilda Murray. This second position is not much better than the first - the Murray girls are selfish and thoughtless and the only thing that makes Agnes's life bearable is her friendship with Mr Weston, the village curate.
Agnes Grey has an autobiographical feel because Anne Bronte herself had worked as a governess and was able to draw on her own personal experiences to show how servants were often treated with cruelty and contempt by their employers. I could sympathise with Agnes as I would soon have lost my patience with the spoilt Bloomfield children and the self-centred, inconsiderate Murrays. I also thought it was unfair that the parents expected Agnes to control their children without actually giving her any real authority over them. It was such a difficult position to be in. However, I found it slightly disappointing that Agnes seemed prepared to just accept things the way they were and not do anything to change the situation. The book was more about tolerance and perseverance than about taking action to try to make things better.
Another of the book's themes is the importance of morality, virtuousness and goodness, qualities in which the Bloomfield and Murray families seem to be sadly lacking, leading Agnes to feel isolated and miserable. However, I think many readers will find Agnes too self-righteous and superior, so if you prefer your heroines to be flawed and imperfect this probably isn't the book for you! Reading about the day to day life of a governess is not particularly exciting or dramatic, but I still found the book enjoyable and interesting - and at under 200 pages a very quick read compared to many of the other Bronte books.
Governess gets her man March 11, 2009
Alun Williams (Peterborough,England)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was very eager to read "Agnes Grey" after greatly enjoying "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall", which now stands very high in my list of great Victorian novels. Agnes Grey is a very different book - for one thing it is very short at well under 200 pages, and the story is deceptively simple. Agnes, who narrates her own story, is, like the author herself, a youngest child of a clergyman: when her father loses his already modest fortune and sinks into depression Agnes decides to earn her own living as a governess (as Anne also did for several years), and the book is the story of her dealings with the two families she works for before finally finding true love, (I hope nobody will think this is a "spoiler" - the hero does not appear until quite late in the tale, and it fairly obvious what will happen almost as soon as he is mentioned.)
So far as plot goes this book is a disappointment when compared with "Wildfell Hall", for that has a far more exciting story. And Agnes is not terribly appealing as a heroine: though kind-hearted and intelligent she is perhaps overly pious, timid, and emotional. However, I think it would be very wrong to assume that Anne means us to admire Agnes as uncritically as their seeming similarities might lead us to think.
Anne Brontë is a very subtle writer, worthy to be compared with Jane Austen. There is something of the same detachment from her characters: both are sympathetic to their characters, but not afraid to let their heroines' faults be seen, nor to smile at them when they get events out of proportion. Brontë does this very cleverly, because she never comments or judges directly as Jane Austen sometimes does, but only through things other characters say or do. As in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, the counter-point to a sometimes dull heroine is an engaging other woman: although Agnes disapproves of her strongly, and is sometimes persecuted by her, Rosalie Murray (the eldest of her charges), is so vivacious and mischievous that, even if we disapprove of her actions, it is very hard not to like her.
Although this book was written 160 years ago I found its ideas still relevant. One of the major themes of the book is the great difficulty a teacher is in when he or she is given responsibility for, but not authority over, children in his or her care. I think many teachers or social workers would probably identify with that predicament. Another passage that I found very thought-provoking was one which discusses how people who are "bad influences" really do influence us even when we are on guard against them.
Overall, though I could perhaps only give this book three stars for my enjoyment of the tale, it is well worth four stars for the quality of the writing and the ideas expressed in the book, and I will certainly read the book again and expect to find more than I got on the first reading.
When buying classics, I usually go for one of the editions with a critical introduction and notes. In this case although one or two of the notes high-lighting links with Anne's own life were interesting, I am not sure they were really worth the extra cost.
 Goveness in Strife May 28, 2008
gem_marie (Manchester)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I had the pleasure of reading this book this weekend. I had come to the book expecting a poor man's version of Jane Eyre but though it is set in the life of a goveness, the story is much more subtle. It really explores what the life of a goveness what like. The descriptions of the brats that our poor protaganist is charged with the education of is spot on. (For anybody who complains about the children of today, take a look at this lot.) The isolation and the cruelties bestowed upon them. There is no dashing Rochester, no mad woman in the attic, no mystery to be solved. Just the reader and the experience. It was refreshing and heartbreaking. However, it need some ummmmph. Agnes doesn't take a stand, doesn't fight for what she wants and I found that aspect very frustrating. The romance was underplayed and folded gently throughout the narrative but I wasn't shouting 'yes!' when they united at the end. Mr Weston was a bit wet to be honest but because you like Agnes you want what she wants.
All-in-all different but not enouggh
A modest version of Jane Eyre March 20, 2008
María José García Ferrer (Madrid, Spain)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I cannot say I do not enjoy "Agnes Grey", but I find the plot two linear and slightly deficient in suspense. If compared to her sister's governess novel, this one is quite inferior in my opinion. Anne Brontë's talent will shine more clearly in "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall".Beautiful prose though, and satisfactory happy ending to make up for the heroine's suffering.
Simple narrative about the plight of the C19 governess November 28, 2007
Greshon (UK)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Agnes Grey suffers probably the worst critical reputation of all the Bronte sisters' novels apart from Charlotte's The Professor, though hardly any would call it a bad book.
This is a simple narrative of the trials of a poor governess, substantially based upon the author's own experiences. Apparently it is the best extant contemporary evidence we have of that occupation - the only 'respectable' occupation open to an educated woman who did not marry in the mnid C19. It expounds, somewhat pleadingly, the impossible position in which the typical governess is placed.
The narrator herself is an infuriatingly moral, religious girl. You sometimes find yourself wishing she would just lighten up a bit. Passion comes in the smallest flickers: this is a cool, detatched book.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
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