Recommendation: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

In 2010, Rebecca Skloot published The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks to critical accolades. This narrative nonfiction examines the story of the HeLa cells which are cells that have revolutionized biological testing, been the basis of at least 60,000 scientific studies because these cells dynamically thrive in a laboratory environment. According to the New York Times, if you have taken a pill stronger than aspirin, than you've benefited from the HeLa cells.

The cells originated from a tumor that Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman from Baltimore Maryland, who was diagnosed and eventually died from cervical cancer, had biopsied. Lacks had never given permission for her cells to be cultured and grown and she had never benefited from the growth and sale of these cells.

Skloot covers a remarkable amount of history and science in this book in a way that is conversational (at times) and completely accessible. While I am widely read, my understanding of genetics, cell replication and biological research is limited to what I learned in high school. I was able to follow the science without any problem because I was deeply engaged in a sympathetic portrait of the Lacks family dealing with poverty, segregation and racial politics.

Dwight Garner, in his New York Times review captures the force of both the writing and the story when he states

I put down Rebecca Skloot’s first book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” more than once. Ten times, probably. Once to poke the fire. Once to silence a pinging BlackBerry. And eight times to chase my wife and assorted visitors around the house, to tell them I was holding one of the most graceful and moving nonfiction books I’ve read in a very long time.

Another interesting aspect is that Skloot herself is a piece of the story. She took 10 years to research and write this book and the reader definitely is aware of her telling the story. In some ways she resembles narrators such as Nick in The Great Gatsby, a steady but sympathetic voice. The Lacks family initially accuses her of essentially writing her book on their backs, but she convinces them to allow her to tell the story, which she does with extreme sensitivity, bordering on bias.

You finish this book with an understanding that this has been Skloot's labor of love. It is moving and shocking in ways both large and small.

For an excerpt, click.

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