I just finished reading this book. It's not the kind of book you can absorb in a short amount of time. I've been working on this post for three days!
On a basic level, the book tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, whose cancerous cells were able to survive in a manufactured cell culture for an indefinite period of time. This ability is extremely rare and scientists now use her cells in labs around the world to do every kind of research you could possibly imagine. Her cells are labeled "HeLa" based on the first two letters of each of her names and they are much more famous than she is...until now.
On a deeper level, this book is about inequality. It deals a lot with race inequality and the treatment of black patients in the 50s and beyond. But it also addresses the issue of knowledge inequality, specifically between doctors and their patients. As a science teacher, it sort of stuns me how easily science is misinterpreted by society in general, partly because of a lack of content knowledge, but in large part due to scientists' inability to communicate their work in layman's terms.
On top of that, add in a healthy discussion of medical ethics, domestic abuse, spiritual viewpoints on life and death, and patients' legal rights. Whew! What do you want to talk about first?!
This book is currently #3 on the New York Times Paperback Fiction Bestseller List.
I'll be reading this book in a few months for my book club; I'll post then. I am looking forward to reading it.
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