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Who cares about the 'catfight' mentality between Mary and Lola Montez. This was an interesting read on a woman of color who was clearly passionate about her mission. I would not recommend this book for any serious historian or in a classroom, but for just independent study and an interesting read suited to 21st century tastes, then it's got what you're looking for. However, I am glad that the author exposed Florence Nightingale for the self-righteous racist she was. However, I could've done without some of the rather highly subjective opinions the author intersperced throughout the book. I felt doing that brought the credibility down a notch.
I used to think the surname of Mary Seacole (1805-1881) was a slave-name. But the common soldiers whom she mothered loved her, as did some high-ranking officers related to Queen Victoria. Frustrating though Jamaica can be, however, writing of Mary's mother, `perhaps she was Jane, Mary's middle name' and then proceeding to call her Jane throughout, is naughty. Motivated by a passion to be useful - and rich - Mary followed in her mother's footsteps by opening a hospital-hotel dispensing native remedies near Sevastopol, in 1855, to tend to the British soldiers in the Crimean War.
Recently, though, Africa has reclaimed her as a role-model. Despite short-term bankruptcy caused by the end of the war, Mary thus became medicinal `rubber' to the future Queen Alexandra. The 19th century contained many obstacles that stopped mixed-race women from achieving ambitions. When Patrick Vernon, whom I interviewed in November's edition of this magazine, created his 100 Great Black Britains poll in 2003 (www.100greatblackbritons.com), Mary Seacole won. Mary overcame many - yet ultimately it was white Florence, not black Mary, who became the heroine of the Crimea. Imagine my surprise when I opened this captivating new biography and discovered she born Mary Grant, and married Edwin Horatio Hamilton Seacole - who was probably an illegitimate son of Admiral Lord Nelson.Jane Robinson's unravelling of Mary's own illegitimate roots in Jamaica is also fascinating.
The soldiers held a benefit festival for her too, and she raised further funds by writing a best-selling autobiography. Not much is known about Mary, but what there is amply justifies this otherwise splendid biography. By dispensing booze with her herbal medicines, she earned Florence Nightingale's opprobrium.
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