The film is a biopic of Mary Seacole’s life following the death of her husband in Jamaica, (a merchant named Edwin Seacole) following which she made the decision to dedicate her life to care for the sick and wounded. In 1854, after the war began, Seacole travelled to London, England, where she applied to be a nurse to the Crimean Fund, the British Army and Florence Nightingale’s nursing team. Mary was rejected and rebuffed by all because she was a woman of colour so using her own funds she decided to undertake her mission directly to the battlefield in The Crimea.

At that time, her Caribbean wayward friend Thomas Day (played by Sam Worthington) arrived in London and they formed a partnership preparing for the journey, and finally setting off in by ship in January 1855 to The Crimea. Although the battles had been fought in 1854, they set about building The British Hotel (aka the Iron House/Mrs. Seacole’s), which was situated along the main supply road from the entry port for British supply ships, Balaclava, to the British camp at Sevastopol. Mary became a central heroine caring and nursing for wounded and sick soldiers; she was not allowed near the front lines, but she was a symbol of hope to wounded British soldiers who gave her the name, “Mother Seacole”.

Gugu Mbatha Raw, the brilliant UK actress who recently starred as Jennifer Hosten, Winner of Miss World 1970 in ‘Misbehaviour’, is poised for major stardom with this epic role. Gugu could not be a better ambassador for the story as she is currently involved with the UN and refugee work around the globe. Born in Oxford she is the daughter of a South African doctor and an English nurse. Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha-Raw was born on 21 April 1983 in Oxford; her first name is a contraction of igugu lethu, which means “our pride” in Zulu.