Bombay Anna: The Real Story and Remarkable Adventures of the King and I Governess

Cannot improve on the other 5 star reviews. Imagine most people only know of Anna from the King And I, and as such think of her as some well educated, proper English woman, who as a widow is sent to be the governess to the Kings many Siamese children. The book also deals with her two, not one child(ren), as she had a daughter who was sent to boarding school in England. And Anna wasn't English born, but was born in India, something the play and movie never speak of. And she wasn't well educated but was indeed a fast learner. Reminded me a tad of how homeschooling parents often become students as well. Susan Morgan the author does an excellent job of describing everyday life and how unlike Yul Brenner, the real King was neither handsome nor interests in Anna in any way other than as the educator of his children. Ms. Morgan also goes into detail about the history of the King and how beautiful daughters of well off citizens were often sent to him, to be a part of his 'harem' or household. When one thinks of a widow with a child, going into uncharted territory in the 1800's one has to admire Anna Leonowens even more. Some great lessons for we women in 2010.

Well written and well researched this is a must read for anyone who sat entranced by the King and I or who has an interest in the real lives of Victorian women.

We all know the story of Anna and the king of Siam through the books, Broadway play and movie. But that romanticized version is more fiction than fact. What a shock to learn that Anna, the British governess to the king, really came from India! The daughter of an Englishman and a woman of mixed Indian and Anglo descent, she grew up in crowded military barracks, far from the ideal fantasy that she created. She married Corporal Thomas Leon Owens when she was eighteen, and had four children. After the deaths of her husband and two of her children, Anna took her remaining children to Singapore, arriving with the fantastic story that has clung to her all these years: that she was a British gentlewoman from Wales, widow of Major Thomas Leonowens, with two children born in England. But the true story is much more compelling. Anna had a photographic memory. She was multilingual and tolerant of all cultures through her association with the people in India--Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus. She learned Sanskrit and traveled extensively lecturing and teaching after her position ended in Siam. Anna was the only Western person allowed in the king's harem of over sixty children, their mothers, and servants. Since they could not leave the harem, she viewed them as being incarcerated, and she worked diligently for their release. As researcher and author Susan Morgan writes, "Her critiques of Siam were not about how the West should treat the East. They were about how men should treat women, about the immense potential women have if only allowed to develop it freely, and about the equalities that should exist between people everywhere as a natural and spiritual right." Morgan's extensive and careful research provides the reader with the facts of Anna's life and shows how this amazing woman truly lived and fought for women's rights by exemplifying the principles she espoused in her own life. Throughout the book, pictures of Anna at various ages add to the narrative. The only drawback is the repetition that makes some of the chapters sound as if they may have been written as stand-alone articles. Recommended for women's and multicultural collections. by Susan Andrus for Story Circle Book Reviews reviewing books by, for, and about women

What a wonderful book! So full of information, so well-written and easy to read, I couldn't put it down. Author Susan Morgan not only brings Anna Leonowens's remarkable life to life, she makes the reader see why Leonowens made up so much of her "official" life story, and why the (false) image of blond Anna (a lie) dancing with King Monghut (played by Yul Brynner) in The King and I, has had such a powerful grip on our imaginations. Anna Leonowens could do a lot more than dance, and Susan Morgan can really tell a story.