Bombay Anna: The Real Story and Remarkable Adventures of the King and I Governess
by Susan Morgan
On This Page
Description
If you thought you knew the story of Anna in The King and I, think again. As this riveting biography shows, the real life of Anna Leonowens was far more fascinating than the beloved story of the Victorian governess who went to work for the King of Siam. To write this definitive account, Susan Morgan traveled around the globe and discovered new information that has eluded researchers for years. Anna was born a poor, mixed-race army brat in India, and what followed is an extraordinary show more nineteenth-century story of savvy self-invention, wild adventure, and far-reaching influence. At a time when most women stayed at home, Anna Leonowens traveled all over the world, witnessed some of the most fascinating events of the Age of Empire, and became a well-known travel writer, journalist, teacher, and lecturer. She remains the one and only foreigner to have spent significant time inside the royal harem of Siam. She emigrated to the United States, crossed all of Russia on her own just before the revolution, and moved to Canada, where she publicly defended the rights of women and the working class. The book also gives an engrossing account of how and why Anna became an icon of American culture in The King and I and its many adaptations. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
justjukka Biographer Susan Morgan often cites Abbot Low Moffat's biography of King Mongkut in her biography of Anna Leonowens.
Member Reviews
Aside from the author's penchant for sidetracking the story with constant observations on how incredible Anna was (she was great, we get it!), this is an excellent history of Anna Leonowens. This book focuses not only on the popular story we're all familiar with, but reveals Anna's true past: not the proper English lady she claimed to be, but the army brat born and raised in India, who lied about her heritage to save her children from poverty. If you want to know what led Anna to her career as the royal governess, definitely read this book.
Although I found the parts in Thailand of personal interest, the book is quite dry and dull. The author clearly had preconceived ideas about the subject.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Published Reviews
ThingScore 100
Susan Morgan’s biography is a valuable study of Leonowens’s actual origins, her life in the context of those origins, and the surprisingly long and successful career that she enjoyed after her years in Siam, as an author, lecturer, and social activist in North America.
added by justjukka
Unlikely as the plot of “The King and I” is, Anna Leonowens’s real life was even stranger. A mixed-race Anglo-Indian army brat, she managed to pass as a Victorian lady long enough to be hired as a governess at the court of Siam.
added by justjukka
Author Information
1 Work 64 Members
Work Relationships
Has as a supplement
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Anna Leonowens; King Mongkut; Margaret Landon; Harriet Beecher Stowe
- Important places
- Bangkok, Thailand; Canada; India; Thailand; USA
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 64
- Popularity
- 483,377
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.36)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 1
