''Anna and the King of Siam '' is a

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

semi- fictionalized

biographical novel The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life. Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fict ...

Margaret Landon Margaret Landon (September 7, 1903 – December 4, 1993) was an American writer known for '' Anna and the King of Siam'', her best-selling 1944 novel of the life of Anna Leonowens which eventually sold over a million copies and was translated in ...

. In the early 1860s, Anna Leonowens, a widow with two young children, was invited to Siam (now

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

) by King Mongkut (Rama IV), who wanted her to teach his children and wives the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

and introduce them to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

customs. Her experiences during the five years she spent in the country served as the basis for two

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

s, ''The English Governess at the Siamese Court'' (1870) and ''Romance of the Harem'' (1872). Landon took Leonowens'

first-person narrative A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-telle ...

s and added details about the Siamese people and their culture taken from other sources. The book has been translated into dozens of languages and has inspired at least six adaptations into various dramatic media: * '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1946 film) * ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the chil ...

'' (1951 stage musical) * ''

'' (1956 film musical) * '' Anna and the King'' (1972 TV series) * ''

'' (1999 animated film musical) * '' Anna and the King'' (1999 film) At the time of its publication, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called it "an inviting escape into an unfamiliar, exotic past... calculated to transport us instantly." ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' described it as "enchanting" and added that "the author wears her scholarship with grace, and the amazing story she has to tell is recounted with humor and understanding." ''Anna and the King'' was also published as an

Armed Services Edition Armed Services Editions (ASEs) were small paperback books of fiction and nonfiction that were distributed in the American military during World War II. From 1943 to 1947, some 122 million copies of more than 1,300 ASE titles were distributed to s ...

, distributed to American troops during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Radio adaptation

''Anna and the King of Siam'' was presented on ''

Hallmark Playhouse ''Hallmark Playhouse'' is an American old-time radio dramatic anthology series. It was broadcast on CBS from June 10, 1948 until February 1, 1953, and was described by one author as "a program that consistently produced the highest levels of prod ...

'' 15 September 1949. The 30-minute adaptation starred Deborah Kerr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anna And The King Of Siam (Novel) 1944 American novels Monarchy in fiction American historical novels Novels set in Thailand American novels adapted into plays American novels adapted into films Novels adapted into radio programs Fiction set in the 1860s Biographical novels American novels adapted into television shows History of Thailand in fiction Cultural depictions of Anna Leonowens Cultural depictions of Mongkut John Day Company books