Anna Leonowens: A Life Beyond "the King and I" (Paperback)

by Leslie Smith Dow (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The remarkable true story of a Anna Harriet Leonowens. Her charismatic teaching style transferred over to her other adventures. Her life in Canada, where she lived for 40 years, was also remarkable.

About the Author
Leslie Smith Dow graduated from Carleton University's School of Journalism and has worked as a reporter for The Ottawa Citizen and the Halifax Chronicle Herald. Her articles have appeared in Reader's Digest and Quill and Quire.

Product Details

• Paperback: 154 pages
• Publisher: Pottersfield Press (March 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0919001696
• ISBN-13: 978-0919001695
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,680,958 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

274 of 278 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The extraordinary woman behind The King and I legend, November 29, 1999

By A Customer

As a young child I was enthralled with the popular musical, The King and I. The story had all the makings of a perfect fairy tale, with Anna captivating the heart of the King of Siam. Now, with a new film version of The King and I about to be released I wanted to find out more about the real woman behind the well known legend.

Through extensive research and detective work, author Leslie Smith Dow has successfully peeled back the layers of myth to reveal a very different, but equally extraordinary Anna. Through her research she debunks some of the details of Anna's early life revealing a very unromantic childhood of poverty and squalor. This book took me right into the heart of this extraordinary woman as she struggled to survive as a young widow with two small children. Her life as a Governess at the Saimese Court was fascinating, but equally impressive was the life she led after leaving Siam. I was very interested to read of her many accomplishments in Canada after moving to Halifax Nova Scotia with her daughter and son-in-law. She worked very hard to make her mark on both Halifax and Montreal leaving a lasting legacy of work that remains to this day.

Leslie Smith Dow has done a remarkable job of giving us a true portrait of Anna Leonowens and I highly recommend this book.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fairly good book., October 1, 2001

By	Meaghan Good "meggilyweggily" (Venedocia, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I would have expected such a book to be very dry, but much to my pleasant surprise it was interesting. Ms. Dow did a good job looking through Anna's sensationalized accounts of her life to find the real truth. I liked the enclosed photos of Anna and her family, and Prince Chulalongkorn. A very good biography this was.

4.0 out of 5 stars The Best (Alas), June 12, 2009

By	Karen Jeane Mills - See all my reviews

This is the best biography of Anna Leonowens yet written. That said, its competition is basically only the Amazing Stories entry "Fighting for Women's Rights", which is even shorter and less detailed. Leslie Smith Dow does much to reclaim Anna from her critics, emphasizing her clever resourcefulness, doing what it took to succeed in male-dominated Victorian society. The author's tendency to assume what Anna must have been thinking and feeling at certain points is not good history, and is the book's weakest point. Still, she creates a complete portrait of a remarkable and seldom-appreciated woman.