Written when she was twenty-six, Agnes Grey is Anne Brontâ1â2's first novel. It tells the story of a rector's daughter who has to earn her living as a governess when her family enters a financial crisis. Drawing directly from her own experiences, Anne Brontâ1â2 set out to describe the immense pressures that the governess' life involved: the frustration, the isolation, and the insensitive and cruel treatment on the part of employers and their families.
Mature, insightful, and edged with a quiet irony, this debut displays a keen sense of moral responsibility and sharp eye for bourgeois attitudes and behaviorâand the corrosive power of wealth.
Anne BrontĂ« was born in Yorkshire in 1820. The BrontĂ« children were raised in an isolated parsonage, where they thrived in fantasy worlds that drew on their voracious reading of Byron, Scott, Shakespeare, and Gothic fiction. Anneâs first novel, Agnes Grey, was published together with her sister Emilyâs Wuthering Heights in 1847. She died of tuberculosis in 1849, shortly after Emily and their brother Branwell died of the same illness.
Wanda McCaddon (d. 2023) narrated well over six hundred titles for major audiobook publishers, sometimes with the pseudonym Nadia May or Donada Peters. She earned the prestigious Audio Award for best narration and numerous Earphones Awards. She was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine.