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.