Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The premise of this book may be a little misleading- while it technically is about the history and role of HeLa cells in modern-day science and the life of the woman from which they originated, it is just as much the author's personal account of her search to connect with the people involved, particularly Henrietta's daughter, Deborah.

With that in mind, it's a decent but possibly flawed book; enough information and content to address issues that have been historically controversial in the scientific and medical communities, such as patient consent and the marginalization of blacks (part of an obviously wider issue in the 50's-60's)- but at the same time muddled with distractions coming from an otherwise interesting story about the author's interactions with Deborah and her family and her personal feelings about it in the process. In a sense the author herself is as much a main character in this book as Henrietta is, and that's just... odd?

In other words, it feels like two different but related books forcibly crammed into one narrative, and for that the focus comes off a bit weaker than it could've been, especially towards the end when the book shifts its attention to wrapping up Deborah's story. Still fascinating to read, but just don't get your hopes up if you were expecting a more formal nonfiction treatment of science history.