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Siamese Tears: The kingdom's struggle against the colonial superpowers
Siam 1890
Blue-stocking Julie Gallet is an independent-minded Parisian who has made what her English mother describes as an imprudent match. Following her husband to the Far East, she comes to stay with Michael Crawfurd, her British diplomat cousin and discovers a glittering city of golden spires and colonial intrigue as the Kingdom is caught between France’s territorial ambitions and England’s quest for supremacy and influence in Asia.
Resisting her family’s entreaties to return home, Julie settles in Bangkok, becomes a French teacher to the ladies of the Royal Court and becomes passionately involved in Siamese life and affairs. Her frank and irreverent journal recounts her growing political awareness along with the awakening of her sensuality.
While Paris and London play a game of global chess with the Siamese as their pawns, both she and Michael find their national and personal loyalties tested. Their lives and loves take unexpected turns, and Siam struggles to retain its independence against a ruthless and formidable opponent.
Blending fact and fiction, Siamese Tears is a faithful account of the events leading to the Paknam incident through the eyes of those who witnessed them.
Claire Keefe-Fox was born in Italy of French and American parents and grew up between Europe and the USA, however, she always felt a special affinity for Asia. Her love affair with Thailand began when she saw a replica of the Bang Pa In pavilion at the World Expo in Brussels and she has been coming to Thailand almost every year since 1975. She has written three novels in French, Le Ministre des Moussons, L’Atelier d’Eternité and Le Roi des Rizières. After serving for four years as director of Alliance Française for Thailand, she returned to University in Paris to complete her degree in Thai language and studies, constantly trying to deepen her knowledge of the country which she feels is her second home, and now divides her time between France and Bangkok.
Blue-stocking Julie Gallet is an independent-minded Parisian who has made what her English mother describes as an imprudent match. Following her husband to the Far East, she comes to stay with Michael Crawfurd, her British diplomat cousin and discovers a glittering city of golden spires and colonial intrigue as the Kingdom is caught between France’s territorial ambitions and England’s quest for supremacy and influence in Asia.
Resisting her family’s entreaties to return home, Julie settles in Bangkok, becomes a French teacher to the ladies of the Royal Court and becomes passionately involved in Siamese life and affairs. Her frank and irreverent journal recounts her growing political awareness along with the awakening of her sensuality.
While Paris and London play a game of global chess with the Siamese as their pawns, both she and Michael find their national and personal loyalties tested. Their lives and loves take unexpected turns, and Siam struggles to retain its independence against a ruthless and formidable opponent.
Blending fact and fiction, Siamese Tears is a faithful account of the events leading to the Paknam incident through the eyes of those who witnessed them.
Claire Keefe-Fox was born in Italy of French and American parents and grew up between Europe and the USA, however, she always felt a special affinity for Asia. Her love affair with Thailand began when she saw a replica of the Bang Pa In pavilion at the World Expo in Brussels and she has been coming to Thailand almost every year since 1975. She has written three novels in French, Le Ministre des Moussons, L’Atelier d’Eternité and Le Roi des Rizières. After serving for four years as director of Alliance Française for Thailand, she returned to University in Paris to complete her degree in Thai language and studies, constantly trying to deepen her knowledge of the country which she feels is her second home, and now divides her time between France and Bangkok.
- GenresHistory
367 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 30, 2016
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52 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 7, 2025
An engaging historical novel set against the backdrop of the colonial rivalry between England and France, when Siam risked losing its sovereignty. It touched me deeply, especially since I know Bangkok and recognize many of the places that are still there today. A heartfelt story and a real love letter to this beautiful country and its people.
August 9, 2025
I am generally not into novels but this caught my attention. Very easy to read, a nice mix of geopolitics, Thai culture, nostalgia and some more. Deserves more readers :)
December 18, 2017
Normally I avoid historical fiction out of hand. I picked up this book by accident in a large, hurried round of purchases missing the "A Novel" as part of the title. However, during the end of the year slowdown I decided to read it against my normal proclivities. I was pleasently surprised, and have to commend Keefe-Fox on not only breathing a surprising amount of accuracy into the historical aspects and supporting characters, but catching something of the Thai nature in the personal interactions she paints.
Siamese Tears starts off focusing on Michael, a Diplomatic Service corps type for the British Empire in Bangkok, and his half British/half French cousin Julie, whose impulsive and youthful nature has led her to follow her young French husband to Southeast Asia. Events take various turns for both Michael, Juliett, and others around them as one would expect of a colonial era novel. Yet here is where Keefe-Fox in her Siamese Tears manages to weave the historical aspects of the very earth shattering years of the Paknam Crisis (France's Imperial militarism forcing Siam at the time to surrender much of it's territory and almost become completely occupied) in 1892-1893. Siamese Tears manages to deftly weave both the Michael/Julie saga into the historical background with the supporting characters related to both of them, providing a realistic gateway to the larger events occuring. This ability to balance a believable narrative while still focusing on the characters without coming across as contrived is rare.
Many of the supporting characters are taken from historical persons, and a glimpse at the works Keefe-Fox used in researching her book rival some purely historical tomes. The original sources consulted, many from the time period she is writing about paid off, and it was a thouroughly entertaining as well as educational book.
The final pages pull a few heart strings, and again Siamese Tears manages to capture the essence of Kwampenthai or "Thainess" quite well.
Siamese Tears starts off focusing on Michael, a Diplomatic Service corps type for the British Empire in Bangkok, and his half British/half French cousin Julie, whose impulsive and youthful nature has led her to follow her young French husband to Southeast Asia. Events take various turns for both Michael, Juliett, and others around them as one would expect of a colonial era novel. Yet here is where Keefe-Fox in her Siamese Tears manages to weave the historical aspects of the very earth shattering years of the Paknam Crisis (France's Imperial militarism forcing Siam at the time to surrender much of it's territory and almost become completely occupied) in 1892-1893. Siamese Tears manages to deftly weave both the Michael/Julie saga into the historical background with the supporting characters related to both of them, providing a realistic gateway to the larger events occuring. This ability to balance a believable narrative while still focusing on the characters without coming across as contrived is rare.
Many of the supporting characters are taken from historical persons, and a glimpse at the works Keefe-Fox used in researching her book rival some purely historical tomes. The original sources consulted, many from the time period she is writing about paid off, and it was a thouroughly entertaining as well as educational book.
The final pages pull a few heart strings, and again Siamese Tears manages to capture the essence of Kwampenthai or "Thainess" quite well.
February 11, 2025
Siamese Tears is the riveting story of Julie Gallet, an open-minded Parisian who accompanies her husband to Siam during the reign of Rama V, and finds her world view irrevocably transformed by the people and culture of the fascinating Far Eastern kingdom. While working as a French teacher inside the Royal Court, she comes to understand the kingdom's struggle as a pawn caught in the middle between France and Britain's colonial ambitions and observes the military conflict between France and Siam, which culminated in Siam ceding territory to France. Besides offering keen historical insights, the novel tells the inspiring story of one woman's personal and social awakening.
March 21, 2025
I was actually in tears by the end. The ending was satisfying in that heartache of a way where everything is resolved as only it can be because it can never be anything more. I absolutely fell in love with the characters and the exhilarating life they lead. But most of all I was tickled to recognize the Thailand I know and love, stepping through the decades that have passed like a veiled doorway, finding myself right back in among the bustle and splendor and delicacy of this beautiful country.
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December 6, 2025Claire Keefe‑Fox is a French novelist who divides her time between France and Bangkok. She writes in both French and English and has studied Thai language and culture extensively. Her books are historical fiction set in Thailand. She received the ASEAN Outstanding Creative Literary Award (S.E.A. Write Award) during the 2016–2018 cycle.
November 15, 2019
Siamese Tears begins from 1894 when the French treatened the King of Siam with a war. Colonial wars meant land grab. Siam therfore recruited a Belgian lawyer to defend Siamese independence in law and policy. This book weaves historical facts with fiction.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews