Agnes Grey is the
debut novel of English author
Anne Brontë (writing under the pen name of Acton Bell), first published in December 1847, and republished in a second edition in 1850. The novel follows Agnes Grey, a
governess, as she works within families of the English gentry. Scholarship and comments by Anne's sister
Charlotte Brontë suggest the novel is largely based on Anne Brontë's own experiences as a governess for five years. Like her sister Charlotte's novel
Jane Eyre, it addresses what the precarious position of governess entailed and how it affected a young woman.