Agnes Grey is a classic story written by Anne Bronte. The story is about Agnes, the eighteen-year-old daughter of a poor clergyman. When her family loses a lot of money, Agnes decides to help by finding a job as a governess. But it proves to be a lot more difficult than Agnes imagined...

Agnes Grey is a classic story written by Anne Bronte. The story is about Agnes, the eighteen-year-old daughter of a poor clergyman. When her family loses a lot of money, Agnes decides to help by finding a job as a governess. But it proves to be a lot more difficult than Agnes imagined... Also comes with audio CD.

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. I see that a man cannot give himself up to drinking without being miserable one-half his days and mad the other. When Helen flees from her alcoholic husband in order to protect her son she defies societal convention. Earning a living as an artist, she becomes the mysterious tenant of Wildfell Hall as she hides herself away and uses her art to support her child. However, the beautiful and reclusive young woman soon begins to stir up malicious gossip and speculation. Captivated and drawn to Helen, Gilbert Markham becomes suspicious when he begins to hear these stories, however it is only when he reads Helen's diary that he learns the full cruelty that her husband subjected her to in her previous life. Rejecting the societal norms surrounding marriage in Victorian Society, Anne Bronte's novel, said to be based on the experiences of her own brother Branwell, shocked her readers at the time and still remains a scandalous read today.

'She looked so like herself that I knew not how to bear it'. Gilbert Markham is deeply intrigued by Helen Graham, a beautiful and secretive young woman who has moved into nearby Wildfell Hall with her young son. He is quick to offer Helen his friendship, but when her reclusive behaviour becomes the subject of local gossip and speculation, Gilbert begins to wonder whether his trust in her has been misplaced. It is only when she allows Gilbert to read her diary that the truth is revealed and the shocking details of the disastrous marriage she has left behind emerge.

Anne Bronte's debut novel tells the story of Agnes Grey, a young woman who is determined to seek work as a governess after her family become impoverished. Drawing upon her own experiences as a governess, Anne describes the isolation, insensitivity and occasional harsh treatment bestowed on women in her position by their employers and, through Agnes, demonstrates the resilience, integrity and survival of one woman in the face of upper class snobbery and changing social values.

Combining a sensational story of a man's physical and moral decline through alcohol, a study of marital breakdown, a disquisition on the care and upbringing of children, and a hard-hitting critique of the position of women in Victorian society, this passionate tale of betrayal is set within a stern moral framework tempered by Anne Brontes optimistic belief in universal redemption. It tells the story of the estranged wife of a dissolute rake, desperate to protect her son from his destructive influence, in full flight from a shocking world of debauchery and cruelty. Drawing on her first-hand experiences with her brother Branwell, Brontes novel scandalized contemporary readers and still retains its power to shock today. The new introduction by Josephine McDonagh sheds light on the intellectual and cultural context of the novel, its complex narrative structure, and the contemporary moral and medical debates about alcohol and the body with which the novel engages. Based on the authoritative Clarendon text, the book has an improved chronology, an up-to-date bibliography, and many informative notes.

This handsome boxed set contains the following unabridged novels: Anne Bronte: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall; Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre; and, Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights. This elegant boxed set of the three most popular novels by the Bronte sisters — Anne, Charlotte & Emily — makes a perfect gift or addition to a home library. Beautifully designed, with a real cloth padded top and matt laminated printed sides over 3mm boards, it will be as much at home in the living room as on the bedside table or bureau.

Agnes Grey is a trenchant expose of the frequently isolated, intellectually stagnant and emotionally starved conditions under which many governesses worked in the mid-nineteenth century. This is a deeply personal novel written from the author's own experience and as such Agnes Grey has a power and poignancy which mark it out as a landmark work of literature dealing with the social and moral evolution of English society during the last century.