Agnes Grey

Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Brontë

The only novel by the middle Brontë sister draws deeply on veins of Romantic and Gothic literature to tell the story of the passionate attachment between young Cathy Earnshaw and Heathcliff, an orphan her family adopted, and the impact their love has on their families. The novel explores themes of romantic love and social restrictions with a very different approach than that of Agnes Grey.

• Wuthering Heights on SuperSummary

Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte’s first novel follows the trials of the young orphan Jane Eyre as she grows up, becomes a governess, and experiences love and loss. Published before Agnes Grey, the book led some critics to read Anne’s book as an imitation. The novels by all three Brontë sisters explore the position of the young, unmarried woman in Victorian society and share similarities in writing style and sensibility while still being widely different, and all are considered classics in their own right.

• Jane Eyre on SuperSummary

Tales of Glass Town, Angria, and Gondal: Selected Writings (2010) by the Brontës

This collection presents the surviving juvenilia of all four Brontë siblings, with extensive notes and introductions. While Charlotte and Branwell collaborated most intensely on their imagined worlds of Angria and Glass Town, Emily and Anne invented the land of Gondal and created a lively history.