The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot

Henrietta Lacks, a poor Southern tobacco farmer, was buried in an unmarked grave sixty years ago. Yet her cells – taken without her knowledge – became one of the most important tools in medical research. Known to science as HeLa, the first “immortal” human cells grown in culture are still alive today, and have been bought and sold by the millions. Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to East Baltimore today, where Henrietta’s family struggles with her legacy.

Publisher: Crown; First Edition edition (February 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400052173
ISBN-13: 978-1400052172

Very interesting. However, you need to have a “brush with cancer” in order to really feel this book. The story is good, in fact, a “must-know/must-read” but the author could have written it better. There is something lacking here but in terms of research and real life story telling, it was a good read, very informational and the author was able to stick to the facts.

What I do know though is that the author went out of her way to locate a family who would rather go missing and somewhat allergic to anything media. Of course, the experience has been traumatic for all of them. The immediate family was uncooperative and I could tell from the book that the author really tried to establish close connections to the family just to make this book happen. This I give the author credit for.

What’s ironic though is that Henrietta could have been considered as lucky since her cells are immortal but in my heart I know this isn’t true. The lady cannot be called as lucky since she suffered tremendously as well as her family and the injustices thrown at their family was made apparent by the book. While the medical community is happily using Henrietta’s cell for “medical advancement”, her family is not even receiving medical care which I find really heartbreaking – Henrietta herself didn’t receive adequate medical care when she was suffering from cancer. So sad.

I buried my mother 3 years ago due to breast cancer so this book really hit home. Now I am wondering if 20, 30 years from now I would find my own mother’s cell in a lab somewhere as we were told hers was a rare kind of cancer strain. I hope not as it was hard coping as it was only to find out that someone violated my mother’s body.

Due my strong feelings about the book, nevermind the way it was presented by the author to readers, I am giving this  book a 4 out of 5.

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1. A Stolen Life: A Memoir