Drawing directly on her own experiences as a governess, Anne Bronte set out to describe the almost unbelievable pressures that the governesss life involved - the isolation, the frustration, the insensitive and sometimes actively cruel treatment on the part of employers and their families. The novel is distinguished by its sharp, often ironic observation of middle-class social behaviour, the values and attitudes that lie behind it, and the insidious corruption of moral feeling. This edition also consists of Introduction, Notes on the Text, Select Bibliography, A Chronology of the Author and Explanatory Notes.