Books: Romance of the Harem

ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM—Margaret London—John Day ($3.75).

When Anna Leonowens entered the service of the King of Siam, that progressive monarch had 9,000 women in his harem. They lived in a small city adjoining his palace. In the center was a garden and artificial lake, where the princesses bathed and picked water lilies. There was a theater, a gymnasium, a temple where Anna Leonowens taught English. There were blacksmith shops, slave quarters, barracks for the amazon guards. King Mongkut and a few priests were the only men allowed inside its high...

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