Regular readers of Random will remember that I am very fond of Anne Bronte. I think she was undervalued, not only by her family, but by the reading public. Facts about her are scant and hard to find but last year Nick Holland produced a wonderful biography which I reviewed here for Shiny New Books, and it was wonderful to find somebody else who thought she was such a marvellous person, both in her domestic and her writing life.
Anne was a stayer, she got on with things and kept her unhappiness and sadness to herself. No Emily like histrionics from her, no angst like Charlotte, she kept it under control and so she is less thought of and appreciated. This book, Agnes Grey, proves her doggedness and determination to forge a life for herself as did the author despite the opposition of her family who thought of her as 'poor Anne' and 'gentle Anne' an attitude fostered by Charlotte. I have my own thoughts about that and you can read them here.
Agnes Grey is autobiographical. How could it be anything else? Agnes is the daughter of a clergyman and sets out to prove the is not the child her parents think she is, but a woman capable of looking after herself and she seeks employment as a governess. Now I am not sure what the average life of a governess is like (I have read a very interesting book by Kathryn Hughes on this subject), but I do feel that the Brontes seems to have been very unlucky in their employers who all seem to have ghastly children who terrorise their governesses and make their lives a misery.
The difficulties Agnes faces are rather difficult to believe, so awful are her charges, but as Charlotte was pretty astringent about her governessing, one has to assume that they are telling the truth. Agnes suffers and is ill treated and unhappy. But she soldiers on, finds love and has a happy ending unlike her real life story.
I like this book. It is a quiet understated but powerful piece of writing. If you have not discovered Anne Bronte before you are in for a treat. And after this, go on to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall about which I could wax lyrical and often do.
The Professor by Charlotte Bronte was written after Charlotte's return from Brussels where she had fallen disastrously in love with Monsieur Heger. One feels this was written as a catharsis, something to ease her misery as her love was certainly not reciprocated and had, in fact, caused some alarm in the Pensionnat so intense were her feelings and actions.
It was turned down many times. In order to save paper and cost Charlotte send the manuscript to publisher after publisher using the same paper every time, simply crossing out the old address and adding a new one, so each publishing house she approached could see the number of rejections it had already received. Eventually it was put to one side and forgotten and she turned her attention to Jane Eyre.
I freely admit this is not a favourite Bronte of mine. It is written in the first person and that person is male. William Crimworth is an orphan and refuses his uncle's proposal that he becomes a clergyman and decided to accept a position as a teacher in a boy's school in Brussels. He also teaches at a girl's school nearby and becomes involved with Mademoiselle Reuter who Charlotte portrays as manipulative and sly.
This book is really an earlier version of Villette which is an incredibly powerful book - Charlotte had found her voice and her confidence after the success of Jane Eyre - and in the portrayal of a sly and manipulative headmistress barring the way to the Monsieur who is the object of Charlotte's affections or, as in Villette, Lucy Snow, she is clearly getting her own back. Whether these portrayals are true or not is a matter for debate but I have always thought they were wildly exaggerated as Charlotte was so besotted with Monsieur Heger she was willing to blame his indifference towards her to the machinations of his wife.
The Professor is an odd book. It is rather awkward as Charlotte is trying to put herself in the mind of a man and act accordingly and sometimes it does not quite ring true. But a Charlotte Bronte book which is slightly less good that her others is still streets ahead of many others and it makes a fascinating read. And in the Professor Charlotte allows her hero a happy ending which she withholds or leaves in doubt in Villette.
Both these charming editions are from Alma Classics who often send me such delights and I am most grateful to them for their generosity. They are well produced, good covers, not too over the top and not too commercial, just right and contain notes on the texts and a select bibliography.. They look rather good on my Bronte shelves.
