This is the first I've read of this author and I cannot help but compare it to the works I've read from her two sisters. Compared to Emily and Charlotte, Anne's storytelling was much simpler and easy to get through. It was quite short and I read it in less than 24hrs. The characters seemed three-dimensional enough, but not especially interesting. There was less dramatic or gothic flair, such as the supposed apparitions of Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre. It was more grounded, more quaint. Many books in the same category as this are written from the perspective of a governess, but I found Agnes a uniquely bitter outlook on the profession, and not unjustly so. From my understanding, vindictive and uncooperative children combined with irrational, unhelpful parents was not an uncommon fate for a governess. I felt righteous anger seeing Agnes blamed for the behavior of children she was both tasked with making respectful and undermined in any authority over them. The cruelty to animals she had to witness especially struck me.