Overview

"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 lionized, 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. This book 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 often more remarkable and more dramatic than the legend."

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Reviews

A fascinating reclamation of the story of a remarkable woman. -- Booklist A multifaceted account. Grippingly and thoroughly researched. -- Harper's Bazaar A truly remarkable medical pioneer. -- Literary Review An astonishingly rich story. This wonderfully informative book presents Seacole in all her roundness: a ministering angel who was no angel; a driven woman who basked in adulation, and was forgotten for ninety years after her death. -- The Times (London) An invaluable contribution to the scholarship on Seacole. Rappaport paints a vivid picture. A welcome contribution to our understanding of this truly remarkable medical pioneer. -- Literary Review Impressive. The Seacole we meet in these pages is enterprising, intrepid, and, really, rather shrewd. -- The Daily Telegraph (London) 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. -- The Sunday Times (London) Rappaport's eloquently argued work sets the record straight by revealing the life story of a most extraordinary woman. -- The Herald (Glasgow) Readers will be swept away. -- People Richly detailed. What leaps from these pages, as well as Seacole's remarkable deeds and character, is the great esteem, indeed love, in which she was held. In this wonderful book, Dr. Rappaport has created a fitting tribute. -- Country Life Riveting...A strong-willed woman revived by an indefatigable biographer. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Sheds light on the life of a woman who, in her own day, was as famous as Florence Nightingale. -- New York Times Book Review

Author Information

Helen Rappaport is the author of The Romanov Sisters, The Last Days of the Romanovs, and many other critically acclaimed titles. She has been a full-time writer for more than twenty-three years, and in 2003 discovered and purchased an 1869 portrait of Mary Seacole that now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, sparking a long investigation into Seacole's life and career.

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