Mrs. Seacole was born Mary Jane Grant in 1805 in Kingston, Jamaica, to a Scottish father and Creole mother. Her marriage was a short one, ending in her husband's death. She later went into business with one of his relatives (a certain "Mr. Day," about whom she doesn't have much to say -- and I would have loved to know more about the exact nature of their relationship...!).
At a time when women lived rather restricted, sheltered lives, she had a zest for travel and adventure, and was trotting around the globe -- often unescorted -- back and forth from Jamaica to Panama, England and the Crimea (during the Crimean War!), running hotels/dining rooms, stores and other businesses, providing food and drinks and nursing the sick and wounded (on and off the battlefield), and even prospecting for gold. I found the Crimean War chapters particularly interesting -- I don't know a lot about that particular conflict (perhaps British readers would know more than those of us in North America?) -- but I learned, a few years back, that my great-great-grandmother's older brother served there and died in a hospital in Scutari -- perhaps the one run by the famous Florence Nightingale, described here.
Not all of Mrs. Seacole's adventures were "wonderful," although she tends to put a positive spin on her experiences, and glosses over or omits certain parts of her story altogether. There is illness and injury, and distressing descriptions of violence and death, including the deaths of children. Some of the conditions she lived in were pretty primitive -- the passage where she describes eating exotic animals during her time in Panama gave me pause...! And while her business flourished as the war raged on, it collapsed into bankruptcy after the armistice was signed and the soldiers began returning home to Britain. The book appears to have been part of an effort to raise money to support her in her "old age," including a fund set up and donated to by some of the officers she had served.
The somewhat florid and self-effacing Victorian prose may be a little challenging for some modern readers, although it's not an overly difficult read. The attitudes and language of the day -- racist, colonialist, nationalist, sexist -- are reflected both casually and overtly in Mrs. Seacole's words, attitudes, experiences and memories (particularly in the first part of the book). Be forewarned: the infamous "N word" makes a few appearances. There is some pronatalism too: although she had no children herself, she regarded the soldiers she nursed as her "sons," and many of them referred to her as "Aunty" and "Mother Seacole." Her dislike of the Americans she encounters in Panama is abundantly clear, and she dubs her Jewish Greek guide "Jew Johnny" (!) (although she also calls him "the best and faithfullest servant I had in the Crimea").
Nevertheless, I enjoyed Mrs. Seacole's obvious zest for life and adventure, and her apparent ability to roll with the punches and deal with whatever challenges life presented her. She was quite an amazing lady, and she's regarded as a national heroine in Jamaica today. It's fascinating to learn more about these unsung/forgotten figures from the past, and I am glad this book was rediscovered for us to learn from and enjoy.
3.5 stars on StoryGraph. I struggled with the question of whether to round that up or down on Goodreads; I initially gave it 4 stars there but changed the rating to 3 stars after sleeping on it. ;) An interesting and entertaining read overall, although not without its flaws.
This was Book #24 read to date in 2025 (and Book #3 finished in August), bringing me to 53% of my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 4 books behind schedule to meet my goal. :) You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2025 tagged as "2025 books."
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