Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands (AmazonClassics Edition)

By: Mary Seacole

Narrated by: Debra Michaels

Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Included on the Guardian’s list of the one hundred best nonfiction books of all time, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands was the first autobiography written by a Black woman in Britain.

Mary Seacole had a strong interest in healing - and she wasn’t afraid to travel in order to pursue her calling. After honing her skills as a “doctress” in her native Jamaica, she worked throughout the Caribbean and in Central America, London, and a British outpost during the Crimean War. Undaunted by the people and forces that would obstruct her, Mother Seacole - as she would come to be known - was determined to live life to its absolute fullest.

Though Seacole’s memoir was a bestseller in its time, her achievements were lost to history for more than a century. Rediscovering her now is a revelation, as she offers not only a unique chronicle of race and gender politics in the Victorian era but also a stunning education in how to live a meaningful life.

Revised edition: Previously published as Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, this edition of Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Public Domain (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Fascinating account, superlative narrator

I was intrigued to come across the description of this autobiographical historical work, issued as an Amazon Classic. I began listening, and was hooked. The narrator is absolutely superb; the Jamaican lilt of the protagonist is engaging in and of itself; in addition, she renders the voices of other characters, from British naval officers to Turkish tradesmen and humble soldiers, wonderfully and distinctively. It was fascinating to learn about the adventures of Mary Seacole as she sought, undaunted by any and all obstacles, to use her skills as a nurse and healer in support of the British forces in the Crimea. Her account offers a unique perspective on everything from colonial/imperial ventures to class, gender and racial attitudes of that period, delivered in the voice of a feisty and fascinating real life individual. Her account sometimes jumps around a bit in terms of chronology, but is nevertheless easy to follow, and enormously interesting. Seacole comes across as both modest and fully confident in her skills; her writing is vivid, ranging from clinical precision to poignant description, and also quite funny at times. I found myself actually feeling grateful to Amazon for issuing this work and making it available, especially with such an excellent narrator. Highly recommended.