The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

By: Rebecca Skloot

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Bahni Turpin

Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Number one New York Times best seller.

Now a major motion picture from HBO® starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne.

One of the “most influential” (CNN), “defining” (Lit Hub), and “best” (The Philadelphia Inquirer) books of the decade.

One of essence’s 50 most impactful Black books of the past 50 years.

Named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, O: The Oprah Magazine, NPR, Financial Times, New York, Independent (UK), Times (UK), Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Globe, and Mail.

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells - taken without her knowledge - became one of the most important tools in medicine: The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, which are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than 60 years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than 20 years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family - past and present - is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family - especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah. Deborah was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Had they killed her to harvest her cells? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance? Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.

©2010 Rebecca Skloot (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

Winner of The Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for nonfiction

"The story of modern medicine and bioethics - and, indeed, race relations - is refracted beautifully, and movingly.” (Entertainment Weekly)

"Writing with a novelist's artistry, a biologist's expertise, and the zeal of an investigative reporter, Skloot tells a truly astonishing story of racism and poverty, science and conscience, spirituality and family driven by a galvanizing inquiry into the sanctity of the body and the very nature of the life force." (

Booklist)

Unforgettable!

Thank you Rebecca for introducing us Non-scientists to HeLa- in such a beautiful and Humane way.
This is one of those totally unforgettable True Life stories. I totally fell in love with Debra.

Riveting Story

Very educational in many ways.
Enjoyed medical info and historical education.
I highly recommend it.

Amazing

This story was very well written. Great story. Gives those in the medical profession a lot to think about.

Great book and great narrator!

I didn’t expect this book is such a touching story and the narrator did such a great job reading this story to us. Just amazing!!!

Thought provoking

Interesting story outlining a compelling piece of medical research history and a perspective of important but disturbing historical events. Brings up interesting ethical questions.

Excellent in all aspects

What a story! And it's true! So skillfully written and perfectly narrated! Everyone in the world needs to know about HeLa!

Well written and what a story!!

Would you listen to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks again? Why?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! What an amazing story.

Any additional comments?

I didn't like the switch of the Deborah character on and off throughout the story. It should have been only ONE person doing the voice.

Fascinating Story of Personal Meets Science

This book gives Henrietta Lacks the recognition she deserves for her valuable contributions to science and medicine. It also raises ethical questions about who, if anyone, should profit from donated tissue and cell samples. While I don't think there should be a bidding war I really felt that her family deserved more.

A must read

This book should be a must read for everyone. It covers everything from history to science, spans time from the 1950s through 2009. Cassandra Campbell was a pleasure to listen to, and the story is hard to put down.

Everyone must read this book.

If you've ever taken medicine, loved someone who needed medical help, or just plain love science, you must read this book. Henrietta Lacks helped save us all.