Throwback Thursday: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

a pick from my haute historian gift guide

I first learned about this book in law school during my 1L property class. (Our professor fooled us me by making the first week of classes interesting by talking about cell property rights, little did we I know we would soon be studying the rights of ingress and egress.) It took me a few years to actually buy & read it, but it was well worth the wait. This book explores a strong woman, the culture of medicine in the 1950s, and the power of immortal cells in a way that transforms how a reader perceives medical advances.

Henrietta, a poor Southern tobacco farmer, had her cells taken without her knowledge. She had no idea that her cells would be responsible for some of the most significant medical discoveries of the twentieth century. Rebecca Skloot masterfully tells the journey of Henrietta and her legacy. Regardless of your position on the many medical issues presented, Skloot is straightforward in her findings and honest in her perceptions. And that is something anyone can appreciate.

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