The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot

In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, author Rebecca Skloot uncovers the life of Henrietta Lacks and her immortal cells that have allowed some of the greatest scientific breakthroughs in recent history. By studying the lives of Henrietta’s living relatives as well as tracing the medical history of Henrietta herself, Skloot is able to provide Henrietta Lack’s and her family with the recognition they deserve while helping her family come to terms with the mistreatment and injustice they have faced. Starting off with how she came to learn about Henrietta Lacks Skloot delves into Lack’s story. After learning that she has cervical cancer, Lacks is treated at John Hopkins, but unknowingly has her cells collected for study. Scientists discover

This opened limitless possibilities for scientists as cells could now be experimented on outside the human body. Henrietta, unaware that her cells had been collected or their unique attribute, succumbed to an aggressive form of cervical cancer at the age of 31. Without disclosing why, scientists ask to perform an autopsy on Henrietta eager to collect her cells for study. Her husband eventually agrees. Her cells are collected and shipped to various laboratories for study and experimentation.

To relieve the difficulties of raising a family on his own, Day allowed two relatives to move in who abuse the children. Their Aunt Ethel, who despised Henrietta, takes her anger out on the children in various ways such as

Providing photographs for the reader to look at allows a connection to form on a personal level between the reader and the characters and allows a vivid mental image to form of the people she is writing about. Although the writing is smart and creative, the layout of the chapters can be confusing at times, switching between various narratives every chapter at times. The abrupt and sudden change in dialogue slowed the flow of the book at times, while at other points it served as a nice transition. One example of the abrupt transition would be between chapters 15 and 16 where Skloot goes from talking about the Deborah in high school to her meeting Henrietta’s cousin Cootie. Despite the at times awkward chapter transitions, Skloot is able to tell her story with relative ease and