Based on the incredible true story of one woman's journey to the exotic world of nineteenth-century Siam, the riveting novel that inspired The King and I. In 1862, recently widowed and with two small children to support, British schoolteacher Anna Leonowens agrees to serve as governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam (present-day Thailand), unaware that her years in the royal palace will change not only her own life, but also the future...

English schoolteacher Anna Leonowens has traveled to Siam to educate the 58 children of King Mongkut. Each has preconceived ideas about the other's world. Amid the danger of political unrest, their respect for each other turns into something more.