Plot summary

1862. Emancipated British military widow Anna Leonowens moves with her adolescent son Louis Leonowens to Bangkok in accepting a job as teacher to the many children of King Mongkut of Siam. She accepts this job despite Southeast Asia being a foreign concept to her British mentality, and only upon the certain conditions agreed to between her and the King. Conversely, the King has hired a Brit for this job in wanting to demonstrate to the world that he and by association Siam are modern which means speaking English and basing decisions on science. Their relationship is continually one of push and pull in the King wanting to appear modern but only in his own traditional Siamese and strict terms as a monarch, while Anna too will not back down when she believes she right while still respecting the King as the leader of the country. Beyond the issues specifically between the two of them, the biggest areas of contention are: the teaching of Prince Chulalongkorn, first in line to the throne, Anna who is determined that he will be the type of king the current leader says he wants and not like he is; and in dealing with the King's latest "gift" from Burma, his latest wife Tuptim, who not only wants to be educated like Anna, but who is unhappy at the palace in being in love with someone else, the King who does not love any of his wives in that sense but who demands that they be obedient to him despite what they as individuals may feel about love and marriage.—Huggo