Nobody will deny that Anna Harriette Leonowens (1831-1915) was an impressive woman who led an extraordinary life for a woman in the Victorian Age. Nonetheless, nobody would still remember her, hadn’t her memoirs gotten into the hands of a Presbyterian missionary called Margaret Landon who wrote the biography of the English governess at the Royal Court of Siam in the 1860s. Anna and the King of Siam (»»» read my review on Edith’s Miscellany) quickly became a best-seller in 1944 and has been adapted for the stage as well as for the screen many times since. But how much of this story is true? In her biography Bombay Anna released in 2008 American scholar Susan Morgan ventures at telling The Real Story and Remarkable Adventures of The King and I Governess.Read more (external link) »
I like the way you read all you can find on a topic that interests you! I did not know you had another blog but I went there and found your review of Mood Indigo! I don't know a single other person who has read that book. Did you know there was a movie? My review: http://keepthewisdom.blogspot.com/2014/09/mood-indigo.html
ReplyDeleteWell, you might be surprised to find how little focused my reading actually is! This one is just a follow-up to Anna and the King of Siam because I was annoyed with some of Landon's descriptions (and biased interpretations) and wished to get a truer picture of Anna Harriette Leonowens as well as Siam in the nineteenth century. I'm always looking for the truth and for the different sides to it not contenting myself with just a nice story.
DeleteYes, I have another blog - Lagraziana's Kalliopeion - promoting my reviews on Edith's Miscellany and filled at random with reviews of reads that don't fit in here for one reason or another.
DeleteI loved the movie, a Broadway hit. It starred Yul Bryner and Deborah Kerr.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the film and the TV series... ages ago. And only some basics correspond with the real life of Anna.
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