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emotional
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have read one novel from both Charlotte and Emily and now I can say I have read from Anne as well. Like Charlotte's Jane Eyre, Agnes Grey is about the life of a governess, but unlike Jane, Agnes' experience isn't as charming. The story starts with Agnes being very hopeful to taking on one of the professions fit for women at the time, but her time as a governess ends up being a negative experience. The first family, the Bloomfields, consist of Agnes having to take on 3 spoiled brats. Agnes is expected to be able to control and teach all three (two mostly, because the youngest is two), but due to a lack of parenting and spoiling from the Mr. and Mrs. Bloomfield, Agnes can barely maintain them. They lack respect for her. The parents expect Agnes to provide authority, but the let the kids do what they want at the same time. The only son, takes sadistic pleasure and mutilating birds and is encouraged by his father and uncle. He already acts as if he is king of castle. He reminds me John Reed from Jane Eyre. Agnes is eventually fired but she is actually relieved. The second family is more tolerable as her pupils are older, but her relationship with them isn't ideal. The don't consider her feelings and the oldest daughter Rosalie is a vain young woman, who loves attention especially from men, and expects Agnes to be focused solely on her. Obviously, this story takes a more realistic view of being a governess for a wealthy family. Her pupils are unkind and their parents expect too much, let alone respect her. They would never acknowledge that kids learn from their parents and that the reason Agnes can't control them is because the parents allow them to behave like pampered, entitled pups. Like Jane, Agnes is forced to endure and accept things but also shares her opinions to the reader and on rare occasions to her employers and pupils, but manages to tread carefully as well. The novel comes off as reading Agnes's diary and like Jane Eyre our narrator addresses the audience, but Anne's Agnes addresses us throughout the whole novel. I wouldn't say this is a depressing tale with highlighting the hardships of being a governess, though you definitely feel Agnes' loneliness, but there times when I was amused by the selfishness of the families and how they saw themselves as superior to Agnes, because they were upper class. Rosalie, and even her sister Matilda, seemed to harbor more affection for Agnes than the children of the other family. Those children saw Agnes as someone forced upon them. We also get a glimmer of hope with potential for romance for Agnes. You can also tell this is written by a preacher's daughter as their several quotes from the bible and Agnes has an even strong moral compass which at times can be a bit too much. Love interest himself is a clergyman. This one along, with Dracula, I seem to have a lot more to say about but I will end my review here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Moderate: Death, Death of parent
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It was too Christian-y for my liking, but then so was Jane Eyre when I recently re-listened to it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse
dark
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Brontës always seemed to start their books with dense exposition, which is a little annoying, but understandable. It isn't <i>hard</i>, just sort of uninteresting, until they have finished performing their background description all over you and then you can get on with the action.
Then it gets a bit more interesting. It's not extraordinarily action-packed, and the plot is winding. First we follow Agnes Grey, at around age 18, to her first position as a governess, with hopeless children and parents who won't allow her to discipline them. You get to appreciate how hard she works for as close to nothing as you can imagine. At the same time, I would hazard that she isn't an excellent governess; it is her first job, and she's an isolated youngest child who doesn't have experience.
In her second position she does a little better, and this is where things start to get interesting. This book is full of flat characters who are simply bad, or at least tend towards evil, and you never see any growth or change or understanding in them. Nor does Agnes herself ever really change; all through the book she is long-suffering and takes comfort in religion and the knowledge that, essentially, she is right. But at some point, some of the flat characters round out a bit, and eventually we get a couple other characters who aren't completely flat, and then you suddenly know what's gonna happen but that doesn't really matter because you want it to play out.
As I finished the book I thought to myself, "Come for the shades of <i>Persuasion</i>, stay for the minor characters and pets." This book isn't <i>Persuasion</i>, of course, so lower your expectations. I was a little disappointed with the ending simply because I thought to myself, Jane Austen would have done this better. For me it really drove home the point that Austen's characters weren't merely submissive. The Brontë's characters always feel so passive next to Austen's, and Agnes Grey is no exception - but she had wherewithal and a little bit of tenacity which made her respectable (certainly I preferred her to Jane Eyre, but it's been 15 years since I read that so I can't swear on it).
But seriously, Snap the dog had great presence.
Then it gets a bit more interesting. It's not extraordinarily action-packed, and the plot is winding. First we follow Agnes Grey, at around age 18, to her first position as a governess, with hopeless children and parents who won't allow her to discipline them. You get to appreciate how hard she works for as close to nothing as you can imagine. At the same time, I would hazard that she isn't an excellent governess; it is her first job, and she's an isolated youngest child who doesn't have experience.
In her second position she does a little better, and this is where things start to get interesting. This book is full of flat characters who are simply bad, or at least tend towards evil, and you never see any growth or change or understanding in them. Nor does Agnes herself ever really change; all through the book she is long-suffering and takes comfort in religion and the knowledge that, essentially, she is right. But at some point, some of the flat characters round out a bit, and eventually we get a couple other characters who aren't completely flat, and then you suddenly know what's gonna happen but that doesn't really matter because you want it to play out.
As I finished the book I thought to myself, "Come for the shades of <i>Persuasion</i>, stay for the minor characters and pets." This book isn't <i>Persuasion</i>, of course, so lower your expectations. I was a little disappointed with the ending simply because I thought to myself, Jane Austen would have done this better. For me it really drove home the point that Austen's characters weren't merely submissive. The Brontë's characters always feel so passive next to Austen's, and Agnes Grey is no exception - but she had wherewithal and a little bit of tenacity which made her respectable (certainly I preferred her to Jane Eyre, but it's been 15 years since I read that so I can't swear on it).
But seriously, Snap the dog had great presence.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Minor: Death