remarkable story.

loved the book and the narration. it has really opened my eyes about research. a must read.

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4 people found this helpful

Exceptional

This book was not what I expected but it is very well written and very sympathetically recorded. It is a tale of a woman born in the very shadow of her ancestors slavery who unknowingly changes the face of modern medicine. At the same time the medical miracles are beginning Henrietta dies in pain and her family are left bereft, poor and traumatized. The tale is equally parts inspiring and tragic.

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2 people found this helpful

fabulous

really thought provoking, I can't wait to watch the film next. Well written, nicely narrated.

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Highly recommended

Excellent book very informative, thought provoking and well read. This is a must read for everyone.

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Brilliant book

Excellent book and excellent performance by the reader. I am a computer scientist with a focus on life sciences, and associated HeLa cells with the person they came from only when I chanced upon this book. This book opens up the human story behind one of the workhorses of cancer research and beyond, and many ethical issues around research on human derived samples. It was heartbreaking at times to hear how poorly the patients were treated just a few decades ago.

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Fascinating!

A fascinating story I knew nothing about previously.
Very sad what Henrietta Lacks went through but amazing the contribution she effectively made to medicine

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Wow

What an amazing story
Outstanding book , crucially important peace of history !
Worth every minute of the long years spent on making it happen .

Thank you Rebecca Skoolt

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balance of science and social history

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This topic is fascinating. The author attempts to bring together rather scientifically technical information about how a poor American black women's cells became useful in biomedical science and changed the world against the background of her impoverished society.

The book alternates between science and social history.

As a science orientated person I was impressed to note how clearly and accurately the young writer explained how Henrietta Lack's cells became immortal such that they are still dividing now, over 50 years later. Their ability to proliferate has accelerated cell biology proving useful to mankind in many ways. These were my favourite chapters which unfortunately were in the minority.

The story of Henrietta and her family bring social interest contrasting with a high tech world but I found this too meandering. I felt sorry for the inexperienced author having to deal with Henrietta's family who suffered physical, cognitive, educational and psychiatric disadvantages that she lacked the experience to interpret. Overall they were more a report on how she wrote the book than of the people themselves.

Finally, I would enjoy a little more philosophy which did emerge to some extent during the discussions of tissue ownership.

A little bit of humour would have been my own choice to lift the worrying and depressing passages where she tries to stay on the right side of poor fragile people with paranoid manic psychoses. I suspect she refrained through respect.

Overall, definitely worth a listen.

What did you like best about this story?

Yes

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The narrator relayed the story rather than told it herself.

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Rivetting listening

This is a must-read for all who are interested in how science develops and what is its place in our society. I found Rebecca Skloot's enquiry into the woman (and her family, and the scientists and the labs) behind the cells which have furthered medical and genetic research more than any other fascinating on so many levels: scientific, historical, political, psychological. Here is a woman who has aided medicine immeasuably, but her family cannot afford US health care... And that's just the start. It's beautifully read by Cassandra Campbell, and had me hooked from start to finsh.

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A Fantastic Book

I enjoyed this book so much, yet I think I'd struggle to articulate all of the reasons why I loved it so much. There are little elements that focus on cell biology and the advent of cell culture which I find fascinating, but it's the story of Henrietta's children trying to understand what had happened to their mother that gave this book most of its special moments.

The writing is sharp, to the point, but occasionally lyrical and very descriptive. Skloot has a brilliant way of zooming into a character and telling us vivid details about them. And it was also the fact that they aren't characters at all, but real people, that made this book so powerful (and this is coming from someone who almost exclusively reads fiction).

I loved this book and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

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