The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (3.5 stars)

The first half of this book is great. Reading about the birth of cell culture was really interesting, and Henrietta's personal struggle was moving and very sad. I'd heard a few radio interviews about this book, and read some articles, so I didn't really learn much about the HeLa cells themselves. However I was shocked by the history of unethical human experimentation mentioned, including the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and Southam's intentional injection of HeLa cancer cells into unsuspecting patients and prison volunteers.

If the book ended with the medical non-fiction history being caught up to roughly the current day I would have been very happy. But the author then inserts herself into the story and turns it into a extended familial biography. The whole second half of the book feels like it is about her personal difficulties in dealing with the modern-day Lacks family members.

I think Skloot's intention here was to show how Henrietta's famous cells had changed their lives, and how they struggled to come to terms with the media attention and lack of any financial compensation. But it doesn't read that way. It feels like Skloot is pointing out just how hard her job was: aren't I just the best journalist ever? Look at all the stuff I put up with!

The Afterword gets back to the core ethical questions posed and gives a good overview of recent legal battles, and the applicable laws, regulations, and codes of conduct. None of which would require informed consent to make a HeLa-like collection of body tissue and sell it today. This is a strong finish to a book that lost its way in the middle.

3.5 stars.