Villette (Penguin Classics)

What a strange fascinating narrator! While Jane Eyre will always be my favorite of Charlotte's novels, Villette holds its own. I admit the narration will not be for everyone. Often the side characters take on brighter more perceivable places in this story than it's hero, yet it is still compelling. I highly recommend this novel, and it's intriguing and and illusive narrator.

One of the ladies in our book group suggested this short novel by Anne Bronte. It's a little slow in the beginning, but picks up after awhile. Not as dark and complex as The Tenant of Wildfell Hall or other Bronte sisters' works. If you are looking for a short, sweet, enjoyable read, pick up Agnes Grey! (Although I'm not a frequent eBook reader, I was happy to find that the Kindle download of Agnes Grey worked fine and was easy to read on the Kindle App on my laptop---no problems w/ formatting.)

I knew little of Anne Brontë or her works compared to her much more noted sisters and was pleasantly surprised with this novel. It is less stark and more warm than her sisters', more in the vein of Jane Austen. Overall, an enjoyable read.

The Bronte sisters lived in a totally different era--the precursors of authors like Lloyd C. Douglas without his study of psychological interests or science. It was a good story, if somewhat unrealistic concerning the ways of men. No man worth his salt would have hesitated to see about the woman he loved in the manner portrayed in this story. But at least it was not one of those Danielle Steele situations where the couple jump into bed without hardly knowing each other!

I love this book. The main character is remarkably complex and likable, and Ms. Bronte does an excellent job of letting us into the heart and soul of the real Lucy Snowe while keeping the public's perception of her in clear view. Well written, a lovely storyline, fantastic last few chapters. We are all better for reading it. Beautiful!

What a charming, pleasant book! An interesting cross between Jane Austen-style narrative and plot, with some of the Romantic elements of description of person, place and emotions that one does not get in Austen's writing. Anne also brings in some shocking realism, exposing animal brutality in an honest way that must have forced Victorian readers to gulp with guilt, if they could have the courage to face it. Yet, even with this, the tone of the book was overall light and easy to read. This may be because I have just ploughed through Charlotte Brontes "Villette" as well as her letters---heavy, depressing, ponderous stuff to be sure--so Anne's style was a refreshing change.

After reading the works of her sisters, I was pleasantly surprised to find no gothic or dark themes in this book at all. Agnes Grey is a lovely book that I read with eagerness and finished with remorse. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Really pretty binding, opens well, the spine doesn't crack that is when you open it. The print on the cover is weak.
Would you people stop putting stickers on the covers of books?????? It peels off the cover print and destroys the binding.
Otherwise, great book. Excellent story, a must read!

Though long, at times wordy, this novel is a woman's heart; with fears, hopes and dreams. It meanders and gallops, pauses and stands silent. What a novel. Uniquely different from the works of Jane Austin, Villette will stand alone and be thought of with reflection from this day forward.

I enjoyed this book. The English language used is more complex than used in most of the novels of today, so does take some getting used to. I thought the content was quite thought provoking in many ways.

I enjoyed this book. The English language used is more complex than used in most of the novels of today, so does take some getting used to. I thought the content was quite thought provoking in many ways.

Having just read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights this year, I thought I would condescend to read a novel by the lesser known sister. Short on melodrama, and long on insight and character, Agnes Grey had me riveted for every page.

Agnes Grey is like an undergrad at Harvard sat down with the prompt of writing a off-brand story that was a mashup of Jane Eyre and The Sound of Music in a week.

The Prose are what saves this immature novel. However, there is something beautiful about the simplicity of the work by the least known Bronte that deserves some credit.

True Anglophiles will enjoy Anne Bronte`s "governess finds love" tale. Her story replete with vicars and Curates paints a bucolic picture of life in the English countryside. To spice things up the rude,spoiled landed gentry give our naive little governess Agnes a few eye opening life experiences. I loved this book for all the above reasons and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys romance in its purest sense.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked the fact the Ann Bronte drew from her experience as a governess to describe children that she worked with,. It gave some insight into the everyday life of educated but not well do to ladies who needed to work. I felt that i have a better understanding of what life must have been like back them. It was an enjoyable read based on the story line on its own.
I would recommend this book to the fans of english lit. Enjoy!

I had always enjoyed the works of Charlotte & Emily, but had never read Anne's. I thoroughly enjoyed "Agnes Grey" and am grateful to The Gutenberg Project for making these marvelous old works available.

The first half reads very whiny and dry, but halfway through the plot finally picks up. Good read just for the second half alone. Good writing, not a huge amount of character development. A solidly average book, but not one to be discarded.

Before the reader begins there are a number of things to accept: improbable circumstances, a slow beginning, scattered French passages and occasional lectures. Once accepted a classic book emerges. It is filled with transporting poetic descriptions and gripping accounts of the depth of human feeling.

There are many passages written in French with no translation. This really takes away from the story (obviously) if you don't read French. The story is good. I wish the publishers would have included translations at the bottom of the pages.

A lovely story, typical of the times. Her fortitude as the despised governess makes us happy for her ending. She does a good job of describing the personal human affliction of sensitivity. Most can understand her motives clearly. Liked this read and as I had not read it before am glad I did.

Quite predictable characters, plot, descriptions. People like us, the Brontes, are the best. Quite arrogant, but reassuring if you are like the Brontes and kind to animals, servants, lowly folk, and even the materialistic and dissipated others.

This review is specific to the particular edition. This text is very long to fit in the number of pages it contains, so many people will find this edition, as I did, unreadable. But if you don't mind that you can happily proceed.

This story has as much potential as Villette, one of Charlotte Bronte's other novels, but the story is more like a rough telling than a full-fleshed novel. It is a quicker read (by far) than any of the other Bronte novels and was fun to read, but I would not call it good in comparison. It takes the world of Jane Eyre and the narration and abrupt endings of Jane Austen.

All of the Brontes seem to have a deep understanding and penetration into the human psyche. Some of the observations made by Agnes Grey in Anne Bronte's book holds true today. My Kindle is the best purchase out of the tens of thousands of things I have bought on the store.

For anyone interested in Charlotte Bronte herself, this title is a must. It is the mosst autobiographical of her books and the most emotionally revealing. It depicts her as a woman of strong likes and dislikes with feelings of inadequacy and inferiority. She accepts with equanimity that a man she is very attracted to would choose someone more attractive than herself. The harsh owner of the girls boarding school in Brussels where she teaches is based on the wife of the owner of the school Bronte actually taught at, but a male teacher in the book, with whom the book's protagonist later falls in love is based on Constantin Heger, owner of the boarding school. Toward the end the book becomes over-emotive and at one point the protagonist is under the spell of opium

I've had the pleasure of reading Charlotte and Emily's works and I'm just as delighted with Anne. Agnes Grey is appealing to any avid reader for the fluidity of the story and the great use of language. I enjoyed the privilege of looking up a few classical uses of certain words and phrases and therefore feel as though I understood the story more

This, in my opinion, is the pinnacle of Charlotte Bronte. Forget Jane Eyre. THIS is a gentle tale of love and restraint and disappointment and joy. Lucy Snowe may be frustratingly introverted, and her character dull on the surface, but underneath is a rich, tasteful, emotional narrator. Read this book. Read it. And if you don't love it, too, I'll eat my hat.

This was the first Bronte heroine that I have encountered that did not need a good shake at any moment in the narrative. Certainly not as dramatic as tenant, Jane or Wuthering heights it's still a good read.