Rebecca Skloot Journalist, Teacher, Author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

June 25, 2010

Rave Reviews for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks in the UK

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was published a few weeks ago in the UK, where it’s getting rave reviews. Below, a sampling:

“Immensely moving” — The Guardian (full story here)

“Skloot writes with sensitivity about race, class and education … Science writing is often dry and factual. This compelling book is anything but: as the pacy narrative unfolds, you feel the author’s passion and the family’s pain as they grapple to understand how Henrietta’s cells have become part of a multimillion-dollar industry.” — Irish Times (full review here)

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is moving and magnificent … Told with grace, compassion and humanism, this questing, intelligent book makes comprehensible a complex tale of scientific discovery while offering up a heartbreaking account of racism and injustice. More fascinating than much fiction, it succeeds in bringing hidden lives, past and present, to light.” — Metro Times (full review here)

“An extraordinary book … If science has exploited Henrietta Lacks [Skloot] is determined not to. This biography ensures that she will never again be reduced to cells in a Petri dish: she will always be Henrietta as well as HeLa.” — The Telegraph (full review here)

“[A] remarkable and moving book … a vivid portrait of Lacks that should be as abiding as her cells … Skloot has written an important work of immersive nonfiction that brings not only the stories of Henrietta Lacks and HeLa once more into line, but also catharsis to a family in sore need of it.” — The London Times (full review here)

“[A] remarkable book” — London Review of Books (full review here, subscription required)

More reviews available here.