Novel
Four Reigns
สี่แผ่นดิน
Kukrit Pramoj · 1953
Synopsis
The daughter of a dignitary and a secondary wife, Phloi enters the inner court of the Grand Palace at the age of ten to be trained under a princess, in this small world run by women. The novel follows her through four reigns, from Chulalongkorn to Ananda Mahidol, with her husband and children, through the revolution of 1932, the constitutional monarchy, the Japanese presence and the Allied bombings of Bangkok, where a family of courtiers sees the country change.
Context
The novel first appeared as a serial in the daily Siam Rath, then in volume form in 1953. Tulachandra translated it into English in 1981, and Silkworm Books published a revised version of more than six hundred pages in 1998. Thai television has adapted it five times, from 1961 to 2003. The historian Thak Chaloemtiarana reads in it a nostalgic view of the monarchy and the aristocracy, setting their days of glory against the trials that follow the change of regime.
Who it is for
A long novel, in four parts, that reads like a family chronicle; Silkworm's English translation is available.
Prizes and reception
The Encyclopaedia Britannica regards it as probably the best-selling Thai novel of all time.
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