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hawkia75 's review for:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
This is one of the most riveting non-fiction books I've ever read. I actually carried it around with me everywhere and read it every spare moment. Besides the fascinating medical history, there's a lot of grappling with medical ethics, and the medical ethics of sixty years ago, and how they intersect with race, poverty, and education (or the lack of it). Through all these issues, Skloot maintains a sharp focus on the human side of the story in Henrietta and her family, especially her daughter. In Skloot's hands, all the big issues boil down to a family who is deeply bereft, and then kept in the dark about their loved one's legacy by the medical establishment. I really admire how Skloot opens herself so much to the Lacks family, how deeply she allows herself to empathize and how much she takes their story to heart, while still managing to portray the doctors in a balanced, even sympathetic way.