Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
HausMaus avatar reviewed on + 28 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


Excellent and disturbing - this book starts with cells taken from a woman whose family could not give informed consent (their education level was low and the doctors spoke in "Medical English") and ends with how any tissue removed from any of us is no longer our property and is subject to any sort of research without compensating us. Rebecca Skloot manages to write a riveting book about race, medicine, economic class, education, ethics, history, and the reader. Not a small feat.