The pick for my Classic Club Spin was Agnes Grey and while it was one on my classics bucket list, I didn't love it. That said, I completed the book.
Agnes Grey wasn't what I thought it might be and I didn't find this book particularly engaging. I've heard from friends Anne Bronte's second book, Tenant of Wildfell Hall, is much better. So I will try that book one day. Won't be soon though.....
As the youngest Bronte daughter Anne's experiences, personality and insecurities came through in this novel. The fictional Grey family face financial difficulties so Agnes decides she wants to help by becoming a governess. Her mother and sister are surprised and don't show her any encouragement but Agnes persists.
Agnes accepts a position with the Bloomfields, a heinous family who are snobby, rude and cruel. The children are absolutely horrid! Straight off, that child Tom is a serial killer in the making with talk of hurting his pony and cutting up birds. Wicked child who follows his father and uncle's way of thinking. Pure evil the lot of them. Agnes only lasts a short time, is dismissed and moves on to the next position.
Our author interjects religion and moralizing into Agnes' character, complaining away while trying to enlighten the reader about the indignities of being a governess.
Complain. Rinse. Repeat. The romance between Agnes and Mr. Weston, a man of the cloth of course, was tepid at best.
Happy ending...kinda...but I won't think about this book and the nonexistant depth of the character developments later on.
I'm surely in the minority with my 2 star review of a Bronte classic but we all have different takes on a story. It's one I wanted to knock off my classic club bucket list and ✔...it's done.
Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday and The Classics Club.
