I picked up this copy of Agnes Grey, the first novel by Anne Brontë, in the very same house where she lived and wrote, in what is now the Brontë Parsonage Museum in the Yorkshire town of Haworth. I found myself back there again to research my family history, since at least four generations of my direct ancestors lived in Haworth. Some of them, contemporaries of the Brontë sisters, were baptised by the Reverend Patrick Brontë himself.

The novel is narrated by Agnes Grey who, like Anne, was the daughter of a parson. After her father makes an unfortunate investment through which the family lose the little money they have, Agnes leaves home to work as a governess. The novel has strong autobiographical links to Anne’s own life, since she too was employed as a governess.

The novel deals with numerous social themes, particularly class, highlighting the lack of empathy shown by those of higher social status towards the poorer, and of marriage as a means toward greater wealth and social mobility. Ultimately, however, it is also a delightful and slowly but beautifully paced romantic novel that I would not hesitate to recommend.