The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks- Book Review
By: Mariam Vaid
These past few weeks, I once again decided to venture outside of my comfort zone, and delve into a nonfiction novel. Now, it's been a few years, give or take, since I’ve read a biography. This is most likely due to the fact that I generally lose my interest early on throughout the course of reading biographies, and thus tend to gravitate more towards fantasy and romance novels. As a result, this time around, in order to ensure I remained captivated by each an every single page, I found The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
This novel, set in alternating timelines, during the 1900s and at the present, follows the life story of Henrietta Lacks. The African-American, young mother of five, passed away from complications as a result of her treatments from cervical cancer. Before her death, George Gey, a cell biologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital where Henrietta was being treated, isolated the cells taken from the cervical tumor found in Henrietta and examined them for signs of unusual growth. After further examination, Gey observed her cells did not die after a set number of cell divisions, meaning they were naturally “immortal.” He then began sharing them with scientists all over the world, and the HeLa cell line became widespread. The HeLa cells continue to multiply even today, and have been used by scientists in various types of investigations including disease research, gene mapping, and radiation on humans.
In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, however, Rebecca Skloot uncovers controversies surrounding Gey’s retrieval of Henrietta’s cells in the first place. After extensive research, Skloot came to the conclusion that the cell’s taken from Lacks's cancerous cervical tumor were taken without her knowledge or consent, a common practice at the time.
This novel, set in alternating timelines, during the 1900s and at the present, follows the life story of Henrietta Lacks. The African-American, young mother of five, passed away from complications as a result of her treatments from cervical cancer. Before her death, George Gey, a cell biologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital where Henrietta was being treated, isolated the cells taken from the cervical tumor found in Henrietta and examined them for signs of unusual growth. After further examination, Gey observed her cells did not die after a set number of cell divisions, meaning they were naturally “immortal.” He then began sharing them with scientists all over the world, and the HeLa cell line became widespread. The HeLa cells continue to multiply even today, and have been used by scientists in various types of investigations including disease research, gene mapping, and radiation on humans.
In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, however, Rebecca Skloot uncovers controversies surrounding Gey’s retrieval of Henrietta’s cells in the first place. After extensive research, Skloot came to the conclusion that the cell’s taken from Lacks's cancerous cervical tumor were taken without her knowledge or consent, a common practice at the time.
Rebecca Skloot won multiple awards for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, however in order to do so, she had to overcome substantial family resistance, before she finally gained their trust. Both the topic, and the author’s easy-to-understand, journalistic style of writing regularly kept me entertained. The author even included a timeline of events, allowing the reader to understand the events from a chronological point of view. Another perk of this novel was the length of the chapters. Traditionally, in nonfiction novels, I find the length of chapters daunting, and thus I give up during the middle. However, there is a sense of accomplishment one feels after completing a chapter, and thankfully, the novel readily provides this satisfaction.
For those who may be wary about diving into a novel not within their realm of traditional fiction, let me assure you, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is definitely one to read. I would recommend this novel for anybody even remotely interested in the field of biology, and look forward to any thoughts or comments on you have!
*Note: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks has also been adapted into a film, featuring Oprah as Deborah Lacks, Henrietta Lacks’ daughter. As soon as I find the time to watch it, I will be sure to leave a comment on my thoughts.
For those who may be wary about diving into a novel not within their realm of traditional fiction, let me assure you, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is definitely one to read. I would recommend this novel for anybody even remotely interested in the field of biology, and look forward to any thoughts or comments on you have!
*Note: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks has also been adapted into a film, featuring Oprah as Deborah Lacks, Henrietta Lacks’ daughter. As soon as I find the time to watch it, I will be sure to leave a comment on my thoughts.
It was interesting to read a review that wasn't on a fictional novel. Unlike reviews for fiction, you obviously can't simply review something like "character growth" in biographies as the people, information, and text is all based on true events. I haven't actually heard of Henrietta Lock or George Gey but the story of what occurred sounds really interesting. Although I too find nonfiction and biographies to be daunting at time, it seems like the information, writing, and events are developed and spaced out well. Reading this was a nice break from all of the reviews of fiction novels.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! I've wanted to watch the movie for a while, mostly because is stars Renee Elise Goldsbury but also because the story sounds very interesting. After reading your review, though, I will probably read the book before seeing the movie. Did the book change your view on ethics in science at all? Or was there anything that was especially insightful or important for people to understand?
ReplyDelete*Goldsberry
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