Rebecca Skloot

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells--taken without her knowledge in 1951--became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yes she remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew.
(back cover)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Documents the story of how scientists took cells from an unsuspecting descendant of freed slaves and created a human cell line that has been kept alive indefinitely, enabling discoveries in such areas as cancer research, in vitro fertilization and gene mapping.

this is actually insane and the way rebecca ends the chapter with this?! amazing. i love how she wrote this.

Elizabeth

but when I explained to her that the Lackses thought she was testing them for cancer, and that they were upset about scientist using the cells without their knowledge, she was shocked. “I feel very bad, people should have told them. You know we never thought at the time they did not understand.“ She said. She also told me she had a message. She hoped that give to the Lacs family when I talked with them next: “just tell them, I’m really grateful, they should be very proud of the mother or the wife-I think that if they are angry, probably they didn’t realize how famous the cells are now in the world. It’s unfortunate thing that happened, they should still be very proud, their mother will never die as long as medical science is around, she will always be such a famous thing.” She said. towards the end of our conversation, Hsu mentioned that she could learn so much more from testing the families blood today, since DNA technology has advanced so much since the 70s then she asked if I tell the lacks family one more thing for her: “if they are willing, I wouldn’t mind to go back and get some more blood.” She said.

With an introduction by author of The Tidal Zone, Sarah Moss Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Born a poor black tobacco farmer, her cancer cells – taken without her knowledge – became a multimillion-dollar industry and one of the most important tools in medicine. Yet Henrietta’s family did not learn of her ‘immortality’ until more than twenty years after her death, with devastating consequences . . . Rebecca Skloot’s fascinating account is the story of the life, and afterlife, of one woman who changed the medical world for ever. Balancing the beauty and drama of scientific discovery with dark questions about who owns the stuff our bodies are made of, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an extraordinary journey in search of the soul and story of a real woman, whose cells live on today in all four corners of the world. Now a HBO film starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne.

Fiona Ee

Traci Wilbanks

Harrowing tales abound - Henrietta's, her family's, the author's. A real human interest story that happens to involve science. Eye opening and sad with a dash of altruism.

i really liked this book, but i have conflicting ideas about the author… although i think it’s important that this book was published, i don’t know if it was ethically correct of her to push the family’s boundaries like she did when trying to find out information. it felt a little weird and maybe potentially like a “white savior” type of thing… i think if anything the Lacks family should have been the ones to publish this book, although that brings up more issues since they received no information regarding anything prior to Skloot’s involvement. a good read though, and very informative. i’m glad that at least this book is keeping Henrietta’s memory alive and giving information about informed consent in research practices.

tianna

Colleen

3 Stars

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was the April selection for my bookclub. I fully admit that I was disappointed that it was chosen. After how colossally disappointing Hidden Figures was, I was really hoping for something different. But we ended up with back to back books with similar foundations (both being part scientific explanation, part biography of African-American women unrecognized by history). Usually we do not read the same genre two months in a row let alone two books with the such similar subject matters. I fully admit that I read this book begrudgingly and that affected my enjoyment of it. I did try to keep an open mind, but the book never fully grabbed my attention and I had to push myself just to finish it.

Despite that, it was a good balance between the story of Henrietta and the scientific side. Unlike how Hidden Figures failed to delve into its characters' lives, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks provided an extremely detailed narrative of Henrietta's life and the legacy of her cells. Although the in depth look at her family extended into some tenuous acquaintances and distant relative that did not seem to add to the story and only added to the number of people to try to keep straight. There was a list of people at the end of the book, but well, it was at the end of the book so I did not realize it was there until I finished reading.

Although the balance between biography and scientific explanations was fairly well balanced, it did skip around a lot. And the book dragged on a bit. 

At some point the book became partially a memoir of the author's own journey of writing this book and of hunting down the Lacks family. I use the phrase "hunting down" very intentionally. There is a line between thorough research and invasion of privacy. Frankly, Skloot crossed far beyond that line into completely stalking the family. She called each of them daily for months, ignored all refusals to talk to her, went through the phonebook and called every person with the last name of Lacks, and drove by people's homes in hope of catching them outside. Yeah, that's called stalking! But she condemns other journalists who committed the same actions to get access to the Lacks family often less severely than she herself did. Skloot skated over all of this with the implacable attitude that all of her actions were justified by her good intentions. She made sure to drop in several instances of people saying (much later, after she wore them down and eventually won them over) how her determination and refusal to take no for an answer must have come from the spirit of Henrietta or God Himself. Skloot painted herself a bit too much of an altruistic savior fighting for the rights of a poor, uneducated black family. It was just too much of a White Knight situation for my comfort, and the author's continual insertion of her own opinions and experiences made it more of a memoir than scientific exposé. 

This is a very thoroughly researched book and raises many good questions. But the author's stance is clear, and she introduces a noticeable amount of bias into the story.

It was a good enough book, but it just was not the right time for me. The author was off-putting, and the story never grabbed my attention. Still, I would recommend it to other people. I'm glad that Henrietta was able to get some recognition and that more people became cognizant of the issues raised in this book. People are by and large unaware of medical practices and ethics, both present and past. And building one's knowledge on this subject is very important. But I was disappointed in my experience with The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I might revisit this book at some point in the future, but for now I am glad to be done with it. 


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 2 Stars
Entertainment Level: 2 Stars
Attention to Details: 4 Stars
Emotional Level: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Objectivity: 2 Stars

Kyle Sawatsky

Kelly

This is just an all-around important read. Even though it's nonfiction, it reads like a novel. I simply could not put it down. Read this if you have any interest in the history of medicine and genetics, even if you're not an expert.

Vishwa

Written in what is describe almost as documentary style, where the author is chasing truth and writes in first person as she discovers things about the subject's life, I found the angle quite interesting. It weaves the narratives of the author, the subject (Henrietta Lacks), her family, and her cells together nicely. Slow at times, worth the read for the historical insights and implications on healthcare ethics with respect to race, patent law, and poverty and strife.

Anna Bold

Kathy Jedrzejczyk

Overall this was an incredible story. It made me sad, happy, excited, depressed, curious, etc. An emotional rollercoaster, that's for sure. This book is very well written. It takes the reader through the history of this family and how poorly they have been treated. It makes me wonder about all the other cells/body parts out there that have been used for research that no one knows about. This is only one lady, but there must be hundred's of other sacrifices people have made to make all these drugs and innovations that we have today.

Belle

The last quarter of the book dragged, but otherwise I found this surprisingly good at holding my interest. Skloot does a good job of explaining the history and science involved, and bouncing back and forth between the family's story and the effect of HeLa cells on medical history made it more interesting than if just one of those stories took up the whole book.

Sonja H

I totally enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I am not a scientist and not into science at all.But it's important to remember that behind all great inventions and discoveries there are real people involved, whole families, sad and happy stories.
I won't forget Henrietta for the rest of my life, that's for sure.

Vilde

Just from reading the description to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I was fascinated by the HeLa cells, and I had to pick up the title. Already from the first couple of words, I knew that I was reading something really, really special. Skloot has managed to write a very captivating and intimate account. 

Henrietta Lacks, the origin of the HeLa cells is naturally at the center. The most important and prominent thread thorough The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is to commemorate the existence of Henrietta Lacks, who was one of the most important persons for the Lacks family – and seemingly just a (nameless) donor for the rest of the world. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is also a somewhat brief account of the advances of science due to the HeLa cells, the ethical and legal side to scientific research, the appalling conditions of the Lacks family and the blacks.

For all that the HeLa cells has meant for the scientific field, we should all remember the person that made all this possible, and commemorate her. And for the Lacks family, who lost their wife, mother, aunt and friend; and were left without proper information nor consent of what the scientific field did.

Ivan Zarea

This was an incredible ride. If you're ever curious about any non-fiction, this is it.

Melissa Schwartz

This was an important read. It definitely got technical at times and wasn't always an easy read but I learned so much about genetics, race, and other important topics from this book. I look forward to watching the HBO film and researching some more in the future

Sarah Escorsa

A fascinating, thought-provoking book. I've never liked science much but this book managed to get me interested in cell research and genetics, which is no small feat! ;) I think the strongest point of the book is the ethical questions it raises about informed consents, genetic research and the profits that can be made from anyone's cells. It amazes me that, to this day, anyone's tissues can be used for research without the person's knowledge or censent. To me, the weakest point in the book is the biographical part. It was high time someone wrote a book about Henrietta Lacks and how her cells where "exploited" by scientifics worldwide but half-way through the book the author starts writing about Henrietta's children & grandchildren and there is little to read about Henrietta's story and its implications after that. What also bothered me was the way the author made herself a character of the book. I just don't understand her motivations for doing so. What feels particularly strange here is that despite Skloot's involvement I still can't figure out what she thought of Henrietta's family. It sometimes felt like she wanted to like them but didn't manage to, she sometimes sympathizes and other times she seems to feel terribly annoyed. I think Skloot either wrote too much or too little. Since she decided to involve herself in the story she should have made it clear what her standpoint and feelings were. I think she should have focused more about Henrietta, cell research and bioethics. Now that would have made a really captivating book!

Documents the story of how scientists took cells from an unsuspecting descendant of freed slaves and created a human cell line that has been kept alive indefinitely, enabling numerous medical and scientific discoveries.

Flavia Louise

This book is a great mixture of science and humanity.
I recommend it to everybody but especially people in the sciences.

Ellie Younger

This book tells the story of cells so influential to our lives, and the discoveries of modern technology- cells that are never talked about. The mixture of biology and family history gives education as well as emotional connection. A great book!

MaKenzie Trapp

I read this book for school; that’s partly why it took so long too finish. I really enjoyed this book && would highly recommend this book too someone else!

Jane McCullough

I couldn't put this book down. It was well-written, engaging, and informative. The writer had a perfect balance of history, education, human interest and a bit of her perspective as well. It crossed so many things: race, biology, medicine, personal history, and just plain humanity.

KADY BURNS

Really enjoyed this book. It is one of the few non fiction books that I have just needed to sit with after reading.

Caroline Lewicki

I really enjoyed "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." It was informative, interesting, and touching to see Rebecca and Deborah's journey to learning more about Henrietta's life, before, during and after the development of HeLa. 

The book covers a wide range of issues and topics, a positive and a negative in my opinion. All the pieces of information Skloot gives her reader provides a better overall story to piece together Henrietta's Life. There were quite a few characters who I lost along the way and had to flip back to figure out who they were in relation to Henrietta, but you come to learn that each of these people plays a pretty important role in Henrietta's life and the span of her cells. 

(view spoiler)[ One of my major issues is that Henrietta's descendants still live in poverty, even after the publication of the book and subsequent HBO film. While reparations from Hopkins are well deserved, and quite frankly in my opinion, owed to the family, it's interesting to me that Skloot simply sets up a scholarship for Henrietta's descendants. She had direct contact with a great deal of Henrietta's family and while they're the only ones who can take advantage of the Henrietta Lacks Foundation scholarship, I wish more could be done for these people.  (hide spoiler)]

Overall, an incredibly interesting and engaging read. It is science heavy, but not beyond the scope of understanding. The race, science, and privacy issues raised in the life of Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cells will make you think and appreciate the laws in place now to protect your information.

jam 🍯

The story of HeLa's cells and the stories of Henrietta's descendants are all very interesting, but Skloot spends too much time talking about herself in a book that is dedicated to someone else. If you're looking to find out about HeLa or Henrietta Lacks, I would recommend a different source.

Melody Izard

This is a book that deserves care, dignity and much thought before it is reviewed. But I have finally decided unless I don't just plop one right down soon - I won't review it at all. And if my review might possibly cause someone to add this gem of a read to their reading list - well I must move forward and just get it done.

This is a book of science. Man oh man what I didn't and still don't know about cells and the study of disease and the world of the pharmaceuticals and the ethics of medicine could be a book or maybe a series of books that no one would care to read. Rebecca makes science so very interesting and scary and confusing and mystical. 

And right smack in the middle of this world of science we get the Lacks family. And marching barefoot in step with this amazing human tale we get the world of journalistic research and how much immersion is required to really get the whole and pure story.

And at the end of the book we still realize that there are so many unanswered questions. The world of medical ethics is a multi-sided sharp thing that dares you to try to label it black or white. 

Read this book. There. That is really the most important thing in this review.

Jennifer Dieter

This was an interesting read that brought up a lot of morality questions when it comes to science. I wanted more about the science and less about the family, but I still really liked it.

Steven Ovadia

Very well written. Class and race are mentioned extensively but never really discussed explicitly, which was especially noticeable in the epilogue.
A tad overwritten at times, but on the whole, a great read.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

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