The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
SKU: 70510703453

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "The story of modern medicine and bioethics and, indeed, race relations is refracted beautifully, and movingly." Entertainment Weekly NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM HBO(R) STARRING OPRAH WINFREY AND ROSE BYRNE ONE OF THE "MOST INFLUENTIAL" (CNN), "DEFINING" (LITHUB), AND "BEST" (THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER) BOOKS OF THE DECADE ONE OF ESSENCE'S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS WINNER OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "The story of modern medicine and bioethics--and, indeed, race relations--is refracted beautifully, and movingly."--Entertainment Weekly

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM HBO(R) STARRING OPRAH WINFREY AND ROSE BYRNE - ONE OF THE "MOST INFLUENTIAL" (CNN), "DEFINING" (LITHUB), AND "BEST" (THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER) BOOKS OF THE DECADE - ONE OF ESSENCE'S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS - WINNER OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE HEARTLAND PRIZE FOR NONFICTION - A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE CENTURY

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, O: The Oprah Magazine, NPR, Financial Times, New York, Independent (U.K.), Times (U.K.), 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 sixty 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 twenty 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.
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SKU: 70510703453

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4.9 ★★★★★
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Gabby C.
Los Angeles, US
★★★★★ 5
Angels and the Fallen — Breathtaking Start
Format: Kindle
This book was EVERYTHING I expected it to be and more. Leave to R.L. Caulder and M. Sinclair to give us yet another amazing book! Kieran and her guys hooked me from the very beginning and did not let go. Found family is one of my favorite tropes and it was done so well in this book. Couple that along with an FMC trying to find her place in the world and I was practically drooling over this book. The world building, the conflict, the wyverin sidekick — it all was done so well that it felt fresh and real. Each love interest felt real and unique in their own ways. I felt connected to each one and like they were truly different people. I love that so much in a book and these two authors never miss with their love interests. Multi POV, Reverse harem, who did this to you, and a magical world highlighting the angels and the fallen. This book has everything and it does it so well. Big thank you to R.L. Caulder and M. Sinclair for the arc copy! I cannot wait for book 2!
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Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2024
C
Verified Purchase
Chrystal
San Leandro, US
★★★★★ 4
A new take 🤔
Format: Kindle
I’m not going to go into what this book is about — by now you e already read the synopsis and have an idea — but I will give a couple of insights. Definitely a different take on angels and their fall; I like it. This is an interesting start to a new series - YES, this does end on a cliffhanger so be prepared for that. I’m eager for the next book (and hopefully the last in this series — sometimes the author(s) will switch it up depending on how the story flows for them) in this series. I’m hoping that a certain male character redeems himself because he’s a dick that will make the meaning of mixed signals jealous lol. You ever watch that old movie — I think it’s call Mommy Dearest? — yea, let’s switch that up to daddy. That man would make a perfect husband to mommy dearest. I recommend this book because while these authors are well known for their cliffhangers, they are also well known for putting out good stories.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2024
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M Weidner
San Leandro, US
★★★★★ 3
Liked it
Format: Kindle
I liked the worlds and the characters. The prophesy is confusing in that I would think, since all worlds ore on a path to destruction, the angels would want their world to be saved. I am sure there is more evil that will be revealed as the series proceeds. I dislike a prolonged “poor little me” trope and the main character has moved past that, thankfully, and began to show a fierce attitude as the novel progressed. The last portion of the novel had some great action. It’s worth reading, just be patient with a slow start.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2024
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Lauren B
Chelsea, US
★★★★★ 5
A Fox Amongst the Wolves
Format: Kindle
Collette has been forgotten about her whole life. Her parents don't bother with her, others don't try either once they realize she uses sign language to speak, and she's a shifter surrounded by humans that hate her kind. On her 18th birthday, she runs away. She takes the train and then bus wherever it can get her as far from home as possible. A missed bus brings her and a mysterious but kind man to Willowdale. What happens next is a story of fated mates, shifters, magic, new best friends and found family, and a stolen child. I'm sad this was a shorter read but only because of how much I loved Collette, Dylan, Hunter, Luca, Lena, and the others in their community. I love how detailed the characters are even with the shorter story. You can tell their characteristics easily, and the lead in to book two is done so well. I loved this insta love book with just the right amount of drama.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2025
C
Verified Purchase
Common-Sense-Is-Key
Alexandria, US
★★★★★ 4
An easy PNR book to cure book hangovers.....
Format: Kindle
I enjoyed this as a short story; but nothing truly pulled me into this world to want to keep reading each story. I can sense the overarching villain arc w/ the HAF; yet it still wasn't enough to capture me long-term. It felt like too much focus was placed on progressing the romance part that everything else took a non-existent back seat. This did work well for my intentions of getting over a book-hangover slump. So there's that lol. A Tip to overcome a PNR book hangover, from a wonderful series or novel......read a trope-y, lighthearted, PNR that is easily predictable but adorable. Like this book. Honestly, I'm rarely into short stories that are turned into a ridiculous amount of books on different PNR characters. So I'm not the best at judging the merits of these stories. I'm a long-haul type of reader that lives for a series surrounding 1 lead female character & her harem (or singular partner). Occassionally, I'll find a series of short stories that are interesting enough to finish or pull me in completely. The rarity of that is countable on 1.5 hands, compared to the literal hundreds of fiction books I've read lol. With all of that, I will say this was fun because of the FMC's difficulties growing up & how that made her strong, the end reveals of her life, & the cute Epilogues. I never felt truly connected to any of the characters; but I did feel slightly compelled to just finish it to see how plot points would end. Unfortunately, due to a lack of character backstory explanations, I still don't understand Collete's "magic". Very little time was given to flesh out the backstory of the world this occurs in. I couldn't even guess what type of magic occurs in this world, aside from what little was revealed. A random scene sticks out to me...... we're introduced to a new magic type, in passing. No dialogue to expand. No hint at anything really. Then the scene moves on. That moment felt pointless to even mention, afterwards. It felt like the author was more concerned w/ romance than storyline. This is a common issue I have w/ short stories....authors write them for whatever reason; but too often it's an "either or" theme.....EITHER the author is writing ONLY for romance w/ storyline taking a minor role OR writing ONLY for storyline w/ some romance that ends up feeling forced. As I mentioned earlier, only a handful of short stories series have ever had a balance of both sides, for me, that I wanted to read all of them.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2021

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