‘Patience, Firmness, and Perseverance were my only weapons.’Agnes Grey (1847) was Anne Bronte’s first novel and a poignant account of her own experience as a struggling governess, obliged to earn her living in one of the few ways open to an educated Victorian girl.Agnes is a gritty heroine and her story paints a realistic picture of an intelligent, sensitive young woman who endures months of isolation and frustration in a household that is not her home. But despite the unkindness, and sometimes even malice, to which she is subjected, Agnes’ abiding principles of tolerance and compassion help her to triumph against the odds.