Henrietta Lacks is the woman behind the famous hela cells. The hela cell line has helped with everything from the polio vaccine to research for cancer. Yet her family did not get answers that they wanted about their mother.
This books uncovers what it was like to be poor and black in the 50’s. Lacks had cervical cancer. Her cancer spread like wildfire and she died shortly after. Without her or her family knowing the DR. took a sample of her cancer cells and they became the first immortal cell line. Her family had questions but no one would talk to them or answer them until the author came along. In the decade that she spent researching this book, she became friends with Lacks daughter Deborah. Together they embarked to find out all they could on Lacks.
I felt that this book was well written. What could have descended into technical jargon instead remains assessable for the lay person and it superb storytelling. This book is a fascinating look into who Henrietta Lacks was. The author does not hold anything back. She tells the good with the bad. So we get a balanced picture of the Lacks family.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes science. Even if you do not like science the writing itself is so well written it makes this book worth reading.
