The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

By: Rebecca Skloot

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Bahni Turpin

Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Number one New York Times best seller.

Now a major motion picture from HBO® starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne.

One of the “most influential” (CNN), “defining” (Lit Hub), and “best” (The Philadelphia Inquirer) books of the decade.

One of essence’s 50 most impactful Black books of the past 50 years.

Named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, O: The Oprah Magazine, NPR, Financial Times, New York, Independent (UK), Times (UK), Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Globe, and Mail.

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells - taken without her knowledge - became one of the most important tools in medicine: The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, which are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than 60 years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than 20 years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family - past and present - is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family - especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah. Deborah was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Had they killed her to harvest her cells? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance? Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.

©2010 Rebecca Skloot (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

Winner of The Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for nonfiction

"The story of modern medicine and bioethics - and, indeed, race relations - is refracted beautifully, and movingly.” (Entertainment Weekly)

"Writing with a novelist's artistry, a biologist's expertise, and the zeal of an investigative reporter, Skloot tells a truly astonishing story of racism and poverty, science and conscience, spirituality and family driven by a galvanizing inquiry into the sanctity of the body and the very nature of the life force." (

Booklist)

Glad I read this

Well written -- shocking, astounding, and compelling. Read it for my book club and I'm glad it was suggested.

Science heavy but

This can tend to be science heavy but the narrative portions are what I really connected with. I really enjoyed it

A story for anyone who has visited a Dr's office!

This story should be read/listened by every person who has walked into a doctors office! It's an engaging, horrific, true story set in current time and in 1950 at Johns Hopkins.

It chronicles the life of the woman whose cancerous tissue became the first tissue in history which could be successfully grown as culture and used in various, and countless, experiments from vaccine research to cloning. Her tissue became virtually immortal. If you speak to anyone in the science world about Hela cells the response is " I used those cells for research starting in graduate school." Yet, very little was known about the woman who provided the first Hela cells herself, her life, her family, her history.... setting this author on a journey to find out and provide the reader with portraits of her family as well as an overview of medical ethics, history, culture and healthcare.

Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman living in the suburbs of Baltimore, too poor to get good medical care,and died a horrible death,and yet she lives on.

How can the scientific world progress so much and yet the family of Henrietta Lacks remained burdened with survival in society today trying to figure out what happened to their mother/grandmother.

Wowzers

This was such a fantastic read I even went out and bought the physical copy to both follow along and take notes. The fact that this family hasn’t even gotten the slightest recognition for their DNA’s contribution to society and the advances made and that are continuously being made in what seems to be a day-day basis is appalling and the hope is that this piece really does awaken our minds and hearts alike so that we may improve this obscene “common practice” of UNINFORMED CONSENT that’s currently in place.

-Q

Overall great story

I'm not a big fan of biography or nonfiction, however, this was different. The science and story were amazing! I not only enjoyed the book, I also learned about Henrietta's history, and how we have advanced so much in our medical research because of her and her brave family.

Well worth reading!

This book is non-fiction. It intrigued me and I couldn't wait to listen to the entire book. I thought it was fascinating. I highly recommend this book!

Amazing book. It has it all. Truth. Story. Emotional grip. History. Touched me in all ways. Learned so much. Beautifully written

Amazing book. It has it all. Truth. Story. Emotional grip. History. Touched me in all ways. Learned so much. Beautifully written.

A great story everyone should read!

Would you listen to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks again? Why?

Yes I would. This story is so fascinating and gives such a vivid portrayal of the characters and the situation faced by Henrietta and her family that I think I would likely pick up even more detail every time I read it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The daughter was my favorite character because she was so relatable (to an extent). She faced some difficult circumstances; she wanted to know more about her mother (just like the reader); she was an emotional roller coaster to behold.

Did Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

They did; the change in dialect and voice modulation made it easy to differentiate the characters, and there were many.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I think it was good to break it up. There's a lot of information to digest and a lot of anecdotes that made me really upset and I needed to take a break to get back in the right mindset.

Any additional comments?

A fascinating story about an incredible development in the law, in medicine, and in a family's life.

Some things change and some stay the same

This book opens your mind to current issues in science research and how times have changed and have not change in those areas

I don't usually write reviews...

Would you consider the audio edition of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks to be better than the print version?

I didn't read the print version...

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks?

I loved this book. It was interesting, thought provoking, shocking and very informative. The author did such a great job of integrating the family and their perspective with the thoughts and ideas of the medical community and what happened to Henrietta Lacks' cells. I don't normally read or listen to books of this nature, but it caught my interest from the start and would recommend it to anyone interested in the HeLa cells, where they came from, how they impacted the world and have helped so many people without their knowledge.

What about Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin ’s performance did you like?

Their performances were great all round. I loved it and would listen to them narrate something else.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I don't ever have the patience for that because I move around too much and need to do different things. However, it was a fantastic book and found myself thinking about it, talking about it to others and wanting to get back to it.

Any additional comments?

Read or listen to this book. It is full of historical, current and informative history. We have all be helped by Henrietta Lacks and she should be acknowledged for her contribution, even if it was given without her knowledge or consent. (which is very unfortunate)