From New York Times bestselling author Helen Rappaport comes a superb and revealing biography of Mary Seacole that is testament to her remarkable achievements and corrective to the myths that have grown around her.
Raised in Jamaica, Mary Seacole first came to England in the 1850s after working in Panama. She wanted to volunteer as a nurse and aide during the Crimean War. When her services were rejected, she financed her own expedition to Balaclava, where her reputation for her nursing—and for her compassion—became almost legendary. Popularly known as ‘Mother Seacole’, she was the most famous Black celebrity of her generation—an extraordinary achievement in Victorian Britain.
She regularly mixed with illustrious royal and military patrons and they, along with grateful war veterans, helped her recover financially when she faced bankruptcy. However, after her death in 1881, she was largely forgotten.
More recently, her profile has been revived and her reputation lionised, with a statue of her standing outside St Thomas's Hospital in London and her portrait—rediscovered by the author—now on display in the National Portrait Gallery. In Search of Mary Seacole is the fruit of almost twenty years of research and reveals the truth about Seacole's personal life, her "rivalry" with Florence Nightingale, and other misconceptions.
Vivid and moving, In Search of Mary Seacole shows that reality is oftem more remarkable and more dramatic than the legend.
“Riveting. Rappaport discovered a lost portrait of Mary Seacole (1805-1881), a nurse, herbalist, and caregiver who had been as famous as her contemporary, Florence Nightingale. The portrait inspired the author’s quest to investigate Seacole’s storied life, resulting in a snappy biography. A strong-willed woman revived by an indefatigable biographer.”
"Rappaport stumbled upon a haunting portrait of Seacole, painted in 1869, for sale at a flea market. Rappaport bought the painting and began her nearly two-decade dive into an extraordinary life. She leaves no shred of evidence unexamined, which allows her to shade the contours of Seacole’s history with facts, details and color. And her work pays off; the Crimean section of In Search of Mary Seacole is the book’s beating heart. A comprehensive and much-deserved tribute to an incredible life."
“A fascinating reclamation of the story of a remarkable woman.”
“Lively and entertaining... Seacole has become such an iconic figure that many legends have grown up around her, but Rappaport's book is a more valuable monument to Seacole's legacy than that painting [she discovered], or many of the other books and poems celebrating her life. Myth is important; but not as important as history.”
