The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

This book has been selected as the next read for Bookish, the bi-monthly book club that we host. Bookish members also save on the price of the book.

For more information about Bookish book club and to get the discount code for the book, click here.

Henrietta Lacks is one of most remarkable people in medical history. Her cells form the basis of the most important medical research and breakthroughs happening today, from cancer to HIV to COVID.

But Henrietta never knew any of this. Her cells were taken without her or her family’s knowledge or permission.

Henrietta Lacks was born a poor, Black tobacco farmer. Her cancer cells became a multi-million-dollar industry and one of the most important tools in medicine. Yet Henrietta's family did not learn of her 'immortality' until more than twenty years after her death, with devastating consequences.

Rebecca Skloot's fascinating account is the story of the life, and afterlife, of one woman who changed the medical world for ever. Balancing the beauty and drama of scientific discovery with deep questions about who owns the stuff our bodies are made of, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an extraordinary journey in search of the soul and story of a real woman, whose cells live on today in all four corners of the world.

Author: Rebecca Skloot.

Format: paperback.