In Search of Mary Seacole

June 27, 2022
Historian Rappaport (After the Romanovs) delivers a doggedly researched biography of Mary Seacole, née Grant (c. 1805–1881), the Jamaican woman whose roles as caregiver, nurse, and shopkeeper during the Crimean War made her famous. Born to a mixed-race woman and a white Scottish soldier, Seacole learned homeopathic medicine and the boardinghouse business from her mother. Widowed less than a decade after her marriage to a white West India Company employee, Seacole ran lodging houses and restaurants in Jamaica and Panama, putting her medical skills to good use during cholera epidemics in both places. Upon learning of Florence Nightingale’s work in Crimea, Seacole offered her services to the British military and aid organizations but was rebuffed. Undeterred, she teamed up with a business acquaintance from Panama to open a store, restaurant, and medical clinic for British troops and their allies near Balaclava. Extolled by the British press, she earned several medals in recognition of her work. After the war, though, she struggled to support herself—despite publishing a bestselling memoir—and eventually fell into obscurity. Rappaport, who discovered a lost portrait of Seacole in 2002 (it now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery), skillfully delineates the racial and gendered dynamics of the period, making clear just how extraordinary Seacole’s achievements were. The result is a fitting tribute to woman long denied her due. Illus.

July 1, 2022

Rappaport (The Race To Save the Romanovs) brings Mary Seacole to life on the page and provides the real story of the woman who was voted the greatest Black Briton in 2004. Seacole was a Jamaican-born nurse, who gained fame as one of the first nurse practitioners during the Crimean War (1853-56). By using the herbal medicines she learned from her mother, Seacole ran an independent venture that focused on helping British soldiers after she was rejected to be part of the nursing contingent that included Florence Nightingale. Seacole's story was well-known upon the publication of her 1857 autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, and then she was forgotten for more than a century. The author purchased a portrait of Seacole in 2003, which started an arduous search for the truth behind her story. In this extremely well-researched biography, Rappaport illuminates Seacole's life, including not only her early years in Jamaica but also her work in Panama and her family's business ventures. VERDICT Rappaport digs deeply into often spotty and confusing records to uncover the life of a nurse who became salvation for soldiers fighting in Crimea.--John Rodzvilla

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2022
Like Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole tended to soldiers during the Crimean War and became one of the most famous women in Britain. But unlike the legendary nurse, who disapproved of her, she was a Black healer born in colonial Jamaica. As historian Rappaport notes, it's hard to overemphasize "how extraordinary and exceptional her achievements and fame were in the context of 19th-century white Victorian Britain." One big reason for her renown: Seacole's 1857 bestseller, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands. This not-very-straightforward memoir leaves out or glosses over many details of her long-forgotten life, and Rappaport valiantly tries to fill these gaps. For example, which Scottish soldier named John Grant is the best candidate for Seacole's father? It's one of many difficult-to-track-down facts that led Rappaport to devote more than 20 years to researching ""Mother Seacole."" She is still trying to solve mysteries, such as what happened to the woman she thinks is Seacole's illegitimate daughter. Rappaport even asks readers to reach out with any clues. A fascinating reclamation of the story of a remarkable woman.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.