Agnes Grey

2,5 estrellas. Está bien escrito, pero la historia no me enganchó y sus continuas citas bíblicas, (que vienen motivadas por la educación religiosa de la autora y su alter ego protagonista de la novela), me han resultado algo tediosas. Aunque los relatos costumbristas suelen ser de mi agrado, este en particular carece de profundidad suficiente en mi opinión.

2.5 stars. Well written, but the story didn't hook on me, plus all those biblical quotes, (coming from the author's religious background and reflected on her alter ego the main character in the novel), bore me. It lacks of enough depth in my opinion.

Agnes...oh my!...Can I say that I've never seen a character in literature who seems to think less of herself than Agnes Grey? She doesn't dare imagine a better life and she finds ways to feel satisfied even when her life is very, very bleak. It is a heartbreaking story to read, not only for the sad limits Agnes faced but also for the constriction on her soul that resulted from the way women were treated.

A bit of the plot: Agnes' family falls upon hard times, and Agnes becomes a governess to bring in money. Her pupils are awful and the parents are awful, but Agnes forges on, eventually finding another workplace where the children aren't quite as terrible. There seems to be interest in her from one of the locals, Mr. Weston, but Agnes feels there is no way a man could really want to marry her. Then Agnes' father sickens and dies, and Agnes must return home to begin to form a school with her mother. Even when Mr. Weston shows up out of the blue and openly pursues Agnes...still Agnes feels Mr. Weston is probably not interested in her!

I expected to enjoy Agnes Grey and I did, for the most part, but I did not LOVE it. I feel I may have some unpopular opinions here but this book and I just spent a bunch of time together and I'm glad I read it but I'm not reading to join team Bronte.
First, I did enjoy Agnes' voice. I thought it was a charming story. I love this time period. I thought Agnes was plucky and very optimistic and more than a bit naive. I can see why this has inspired so many young adult writers in modern times. And, yo, I love reading about what people do all day. First breakfast, then a walk, then write letters, then lessons, etc. It makes me feel like I am there.

Now....it was so very charming and twee that I couldn't read it for very long in a single sitting or I found it starting to get on my nerves. Like eating too much candy. Like a pomeranian wearing too many bows.
While I liked Agnes' voice the story reads like one being written by a young girl, a much younger than 23-year-old girl. I had a problem that Agnes had a problem with EVERYBODY. Really, not one person was nice? I get it, her charges were all little bastards and the people she worked for elitist snobs but the staff that brought up Agnes's cases were also awful, none of the rest of the staff were kind? She's kindly with a poor blind woman in the village but that's not friendship, it's pity.
Also, Agnes was not the world's greatest nanny. I know the parents didn't back her up but why was she doing everyone's work for them? WTF? Wasn't there books about being a governess available to read and study? A correspondence course?
And a note about the animal cruelty. There is a ton of animals being harmed for fun, and only one character (one of Agnes's charges) who's character development was shaped by it.
What I'm taking from this is that a simple life can be a lovely life. Mr. Weston was a great character. I also loved Agnes's mom, who married for love. I really like Agnes. It also sheds light on how staff can be treated like furniture.