Agnes Grey cover art

Agnes Grey

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

In her daring first novel, the youngest Brontë sister drew upon her own experiences to tell the unvarnished truth about life as a governess. Like Agnes Grey, Anne Bronte was a young middle-class Victorian lady whose family fortunes had faltered. Like so many other unmarried women of the 19th century, Bronte accepted the only "respectable" employment available - and entered a world of hardship, humiliation, and loneliness. Written with a realism that shocked critics, this biting social commentary offers a sympathetic portrait of Agnes and a moving indictment of her brutish and haughty employers.

Separated from her family and friends by many miles, paid little more than subsistence wages, Agnes stands alone - both in society at large and in a household where she is neither family member nor servant.

Agnes Grey remains a landmark in the literature of social history. In addition to its challenge to the era's chauvinism and materialism, it features a first-person narrative that offers a rare opportunity to hear the voice of a Victorian working woman.

Public Domain (P)2016 Recorded Books Classics
All stars
Most relevant
Nice enough story but can’t compare with her sisters’ masterpieces. The narrator was mostly good but diabolical at regional accents.

Classic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Classic story with interesting characters and a good plot with a happy ending. Very well read.

Good read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
very well read but can do nothing for an uninspired story. the characters are ok, the story is ok but somehow on the whole it is just bland

fairly benign story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am ashamed to say that I didn't expect much of this book. How wrong I was! This story would make a great movie too.

Great book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Depth of detail in the everyday world of mid 19th century England for a young woman of lower middle class.

Detailed characters.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.