Background info & Reading Schedule

[Piyangie, Moderator]

Welcome to the June group read of Agnes Grey! I will post the reading Schedule very soon. Meanwhile please feel free to share any information about the author or the book here.

[Piyangie, Moderator]

Reading Schedule for Agnes Grey.

Week 1: June 2 - June 8: Chapter 1 (The Parsonage) - Chapter 6 (The Parsonage Again)

Week 2: June 9 - June 15: Chapter 7 (Horton Lodge) - Chapter 12 (The Shower)

Week 3: June 16 - June 22: Chapter 13 (The Primroses) - Chapter 18 (Mirth and Mourning)

Week 4: June 23 - June 29: Chapter 19 (The Letter) - Chapter 25 (Conclusion)

I have scheduled about six chapters a week since it is fairly a short book.

[Piyangie, Moderator]

If anyone is not reading the printed version, they can check out for the audio book here:

https://librivox.org/agnes-grey-by-an...

You can also check out the ebook here:

https://www.planetebook.com/free-eboo... or

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/767

[Piyangie, Moderator]

Agnes Grey is the debut novel of Anne Bronte. The novel is strongly autobiographical as it is based on Anne's personal experiences as a governess. Anne's work is shaped more on her personal experiences and observations as can be seen from both the novels she has written.

Anne's works are quite different to the works of her famous sisters, Charlotte and Emily Bronte. Her writing and the contents of her stories are resemble "Austinian" style.

Agnes Grey was published in December by Thomas Cautley Newby in 1847 under the pseudo name of Acton Bell alongside with Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.

The appearance of Agnes Grey as the third volume of a three set volume where first two were dedicated to Wuthering Heights might have caused Agnes Grey to have been overlooked; or the success of Jane Eyre, which is yet more or less a story of a governess might have drowned the similarly themed Agnes Grey from the public limelight and critic eye. Whatever the real reason Agnes Grey did not receive any critical acclaim during Anne's life time. However, it opened the eyes of society to the injustices and prejudices of the position of a governess. It is said many society ladies have stated that they were inclined to treat governesses more "humanely' after reading Agnes Grey. So in its own light, Agnes Grey has paved way for at least a small faction of social reform.

[Piyangie, Moderator]

Anne Bronte was born in 19th January 1820 to Reverend Patrick Bronte and Maria Branwell. She is sixth and youngest child of the Bronte family.

More information on Anne Bronte can be found:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/... and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Br...

[Linda]

I have the Oxford World Classics text and the author of the Introduction (Sally Shuttleworth) says that Agnes Grey was actually written before Jane Eyre. However, the publisher who was going to publish Agnes Grey and Wuthering Heights together did not actually publish the books until after Jane Eyre had been written and published. So that when Agnes Grey was published the year after, it seemed that it was a copy of Jane Eyre in many respects where actually the reverse was true. Any similarities were due to Charlotte’s using Anne’s novel as inspiration. In addition, as Agnes Grey was not the same type of Gothic sensational novel as either Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, it was judged as colorless in comparison rather than on its unique merits. Thankfully, Anne’s reputation has finally been resurrected after Charlotte created a negative portrait of her sister as an author which endured for a very long time.

[Piyangie, Moderator]

Thank you for sharing the information, Linda. I read the same information in the introduction to the Wordsworth classics edition that I'm reading. I've read elsewhere too that Anne Bronte's Agnes Grey was the first written and served as an inspiration for Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Smith, Elder and Company which published Jane Eyre outpaced Thomas Cautley Newby.