Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon

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Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon 

This book was nothing like I thought it would be. In my mind, I had visions of Anna and the King dancing together—an enemies-to-lovers-type trope born from a clip of the 1956 The King and I musical starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner. I’ve never seen the movie, only that clip, and so I looked forward to a wonderful turn of tides. Boy was I wrong! 

 

This historical fiction is based on two memoirs that Anna penned after being in Siam (later Thailand) for five long years.  But there is no love connection between her and the king. The king was a despotic beast who had 83 children with his wives and many concubines. Although he was in the priesthood for 30 years before he became king, he skipped many of the lessons on compassion, empathy, or general humanity. As king, he had a habit of having wives, slaves, and harem women flogged and locked in a dark, moldy dungeon. Other times, he’d just have them executed. Meanwhile Anna was the unofficial and reluctant mediator between many of the women. But let’s be for real, the King wasn’t amenable to too much interference. He never hurt Anna since she was a foreigner, but he wasn’t a dreamboat to work with either. He had her at his beck and call at all times. And with his pendulum of moods, he was both complimentary and verbally abusive to her. In fact, his some of his final words to her were, “You are not wise. Wherefore are you so difficult? You are only a woman.” And yet he respected her. Talk about a toxic work environment!

 

Anna was tough as nails, because destitute or not, I would have fled as soon as I met the king. Kudos to her. Because of her teachings to the wives, concubines, and royal children, real change was affected after the king’s death, when Prince Chulalongkorn took over and took some of Anna’s teachings to heart.

 



Above: The King and I, 1956, and Anna and the King, 1999.
I'd like to watch both of these movies.

Pictures from History / Bridgeman Images

Left: I always imagined women of Siam having long, flowing coal black hair. But I was surprised to find out in the book that in the 1800s women's hairstyles were more punk-rockish with short cropped hair. They also had black teeth from chewing betel leaves. 

Right: King Mongkut with one of his wives.  

Quotes about the king:

“The King regarded his women as nothing more than stalled animals kept by his bounty for his pleasure, to be destroyed  at his whim.” Pg 138


“The world within the Palace walls was a universe with a single sun and many moons. The King was the disk of light around which everything revolved.” Pg 140

Memoirs by Anna Leonowens:

“The English Governess at the Siamese Court,” 1870. 
"Romance of the Harem," 1872 - explores the lives of the harem women.



Happy Reading!
Annette



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