Agnes Grey By Anne Bronte I

This is the first novel published by Anne Bronte, which is somewhat autobiographical. It is based on her life as a governess. Agnes is the daughter of a clergyman, her mother is from a well to do family but married for love and the family end up in debt. Mr Grey is not very good at investing money. Agnes is naive and childlike, and wants to help her father,mother and sister, telling them that she can go out as a governess. She has a rather foolish idea that she will love the job, and that childen are sweet little things. She gets a job with the Bloomfield family and finds it is nothing like she imagined. The children are spoiled and unmanageable. She is not allowed to discipline them but is blamed for all their flaws. Tom the son is a brattish cruel boy who loves torturing animals and birds and she tries to stop him. She kills a nest of birds to stop him form hurting them... and before long, she is dismissed. She gets another job with a richer family, the Murrays. The children are older and not quite so unteachable but Agnes is ignored by the family to a large extent. Rosalie, the elder daughter is a flirt, and Matilda is a rough tomboy. She does not like them much but it is a degree better than her last job.