THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS by Rebecca Skloot

Finished Su 7/7/13

My post at Good Reads-

   This book was recommended to me by a few members of my Contemporary Book club who never read 'nonfiction', but they loved this particular book. The author of THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, Rebecca Skloot teaches 'creative nonfiction', and I'm not exactly sure how this differs from strict 'nonfiction', but this book is most certainly as entertaining as anything filed under 'fiction'.

   The book is about a poor black woman, Henrietta Lacks, who was treated for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951, and some of her cells were harvested by Dr. George Gey, and later these cells became the first cell line to grow in vitro. Henrietta Lacks cells (HeLa) became an astounding benefit to medical research, however neither Henrietta or any members of her family were informed about the donated cells, and this becomes the dramatic hook of the book. Does a patient or the patient's family have any rights whatsoever from harvested cells or tissue? In 1951 there were no laws concerning this issue, and even today, the legal ramifications seem pretty vague.

   Rebecca Skloot becomes a vital part of the story as she tells about her journey to help Henrietta's daughter, Deborah, and other members of the extended family to learn about the HeLa cells and find out about Henrietta's life and what really happened to their very important ancestor. The Lacks family are quite a handful, and provide for a rich and unique collection of characters. All are economically deprived and live in extremely deprived areas of Baltimore, Md and rural Virginia, have numerous health issues both physical and mental, and many have serious issues with the law, yet Skloot treats them all with deep understanding. She becomes almost a part of the Lacks family, and this might be the reason that Oprah Winfrey has made plans to make the book a film for HBO.

   Because of the intense scientific nature of this book most people would probably rather do a little online research about HeLa, and then leave it at that. But, I would recommend that you read this book because it a rich and rewarding experience and is as compelling as most 'crime fiction', and this book is absolutely perfectly suited for people who 'never' read nonfiction.