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I just got started on “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”. Loving it!

I just got started on “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”. Loving it!!

Kristin #review

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308 Answers

Sharon

Yes, it’s just amazing.

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Denise

Great book!

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Karen

Gosh, that one was depressing!

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Robyn

Depressing because of what happened to Henrietta, but uplifting to think of all the cures and medicines developed, thanks to the HeLa cells

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Karen

If I am remembering correctly, not just her, but her whole family.

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Robyn

@Karen Yes, they actually found the same strain of cells in family members and have been testing everyone who can trace their DNA heritage to her. Of course now Hopkins treats them all like royalty

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Colleen

Good book. Sad part of American history

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Paula

Love that book!

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Lisa

Fascinating book!

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Katie

I loved this book! One that will forever stick with me

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Tina

I liked it as well, but some fellow readers did not care it as much. It did drag on a bit but the story of Henrietta was interesting and sad.

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Melissa

What a story!

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Kana

This book was so interesting and tragic.

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Kathleen

One of my favorites!?

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Alison

I read it after learning about HeLa cells in school. Amazing story!

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Lynne

Very interesting and sad story. Loved it.

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Stacey

Some of the best nonfiction I’ve read. I could not put it down!

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Elba

It is wonderful. I bought thinking that it was more of a science book, but was surprised by the depth of the story.

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Mindy

I loved this book. It shook me to my core, but relished it. Tell us what you think when you finish.

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Angie

That is a great one!

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Kimberly

On my to read shelf in my bookcase!

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Sharon

Great book. So interesting.

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Linda

Quite the story and very sad.

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Carolyn

So good!

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Mindy

It took me months to finish this book. It was very interesting but also very difficult to get through. I did not care for Oprah’s version. It did not capture this book at all.

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Mindy

I am so glad I read the entire book. It is an incredible story.

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Erin

One of the best books I’ve ever had to read for school!

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Pamela

Sad and frustrating, for sure. Enjoy!

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Nancy

What an amazing story. Oprah did a great job in the movie

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Sherry

Such a great book

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Kristin

LOVE

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Susan

Very interesting book.

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Tina

Great book!

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Janet

Great book! Amazing facts!

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Laura

Wonderful book

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Deb

I am reading it for almost a year! I have to keep putting it down it’s so heartbreaking.

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Emily

Excellent! The movie was good too.

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Tina

Oooh, I haven’t seen the movie! Thanks for the tip!

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Mimi

GREAT BOOK!!!

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Carla

Didn’t see the movie but the book was an eye opener

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Judith

Amazing story, and it’s true!

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David

Fascinating book. I didn’t really care for the film though.

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Jacqueline

It was an amazing and enlightening read

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Cindy

Really good, and so well researched.

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Laura

Loved this story!

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Jamie

Such an amazing story!

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Sandy

Wonderful!!!

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Sandra

Excellent book.

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Carol

Great book! And the. Author did well by the family

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Merri

On my TBR list!

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Krisanne

This was fascinating and I think it should be required reading in school.

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Molly

As a scientist, I would love for all researchers to read this book!

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Kary

Loved it!

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Carly

One of my all-time favorites. I loved the mix of science and biographical insight.

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Miki

An amazing story!

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Sharon

I have that on my summer reading list!!! A must read for sure.

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Stephen

Very interesting book any book tha leads to further research is a win. Great movie also.

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Tina

Such a amazing story! ?

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Judith

It is a wonderfully told account

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Carol

It’s a fascinating book! Our Book Club at our RV park in Florida read it a couple of years ago.

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Vicki

Great book about a woman who saved so many lives even as she lost hers. What a heroine.

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Robyn

and she is still saving lives every day!

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Sally

Great book. I still haven’t seen the movie because I’m worried they messed it up!

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Colleen

It wasn.’t great. You didn’t miss anything

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Vicki

They didn’t. The movie was honest and truthful.

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Steph

Great book.

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Michelle

Sooooo good!

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Robyn

We live in Baltimore and many of Henrietta’s family members still live here. Hopkins has worked hard to make amends and honor her, and there is now a beautiful portrait of Henrietta at the National Portrait Gallery. The artist put many significant touches into the painting https://www.npr.org/2018/05/15/611389741/henrietta-lacks-lasting-impact-detailed-in-new-portrait . If you want another very interesting medical story, check out Partners of the Heart by Vivien Thomas. Thomas was the black lab technician who worked with Dr. Alfred Blalock as Blalock developed the field of cardiac surgery, including his pioneering “blue baby” surgeries. In the era where blacks served as janitors at the hospital, Thomas was creating the tools that Dr. Blalock and Dr. Helen Taussig needed to operate on infants and save their lives.There are portraits of the two men hanging at the entrance to the Blalock wing of Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Taussig’s portrait is also there

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Arlene

It is a great read.

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Ginger

I loved it too!

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Robin

Such an amazing true story!

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Debbie

So interesting and informative, loved it

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Rickee

Great , eye-opening book.

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Susie

So interesting!

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Nicki

It’s amazing!

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Anita

excellent book

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Deborah

Everyone loved it in book club.

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Debbie

I just bought it, but haven’t started it yet.

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KristinQuestion author

It’s wonderful!

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Kimberly

It’s a great book!

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Bob

Excellent read.

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Cris

Thanks for the recommendations – it’s now on my list.

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Jill

Fabulous book!

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Janice

Fantastic story . It was shameful and criminal how she and her family were treated. Her HeLa cells were the birth of so much of our modern medicine. It is way past time her contribution is acknowledged and the family gets something for it.

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Kris

I JUST put it on my goodreads “to read” list. Thanks for the reminder.

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Linda

It is an awesome story…loved it, also

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Angie

It really makes you think about medical tests and what might be done with your cells.

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Ann

Amazing story. Excellent writing

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Cindy

Great book.

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Mary

http://smithsonianmag.com/ Famed for “Immortal” Cells, Henrietta Lacks is Immortalized in Portraiture

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Kristy

It was a great book. I really enjoyed it.

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June

Excellent book. Critique of science and medicine, US race and privilege, and unregulated capitalism.

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Laura

It is a very interesting story. Lots of abuses were depicted but just think her cells are still being used in research today. That to me is amazing.

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Nancy

Great book.

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Carla

Amazing story

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EN

I read it last year. I always read the privacy policies at doctor offices and refused parts of them, but now I read them even more thoroughly.

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Bridgette

It is a excellent book.

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Shelly

Excellent read!

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Dori

Hi

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RoxeAn

I really enjoyed that book. I have a hard time convincing people it’s good.

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Maggie

Excellent book. I couldn’t put it down.

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Mary

Awesome book! Really made me think…..

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Loretta

Was a wonderful but disturbing true story.

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Cathy

Great read!

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Marshall

Amazing book!

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Jyn

I’m so glad her story is out. We owe Henrietta Lacks a lot! Enjoy the book!

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Carol

excellent account of how this woman was treated and the development of HeLa cells. I have shared my copy with many, including my mother, who enjoyed it at age 96!

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Laurie

Wonderful book our book club read?

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Sungalina

You may also like, “The short and tragic life of Robert Peace”—I’m bad with titles so I may got some of the wording wrong. Excellent book.

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EN

Yes! Loved that book. It was like a love letter to his late friend, and a tough lesson on how education doesn’t make up for lack of role models.

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Polly

Such a fascinating book!

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Vivienne

Read it twice, once for myself and then later for my book club. Excellent writing and research.

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Katherine

Amazing true story!

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Sue

Excellent excellent book!

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Ann

Excellent book!

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Theresa

It’s on my list this summer.

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Miriam

That is such a good book!

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Amelia

We just picked that one for our next book club read! Cannot wait to start it!

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Denise

Wonderful book. Read Radium Girls after you finish. It was great, too

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Pat

I finished Radium Girls not too long ago. Horrific story but a great read.

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Denise

It was great to read them back to back, and understand how medical research has occurred over the years.

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Pat

@Denise yes…definitely!

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Robyn

Add Partners of the Heart by Vivien Thomas – also a true story, written by a black man who was Dr. Alfred Blalock’s lab technician and partner in developing the field of cardiac surgery.At Hopkins, Thomas invented a lot of the tools that Blalock and Dr. Helen Taussig used in pioneering the “blue baby” operations that saved countless children who might otherwise have died (I have a cousin who is now an 75 year old grandfather thanks to them all)

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Denise

@Robyn my library doesn’t have it. How disappointing. I’ll have to keep looking

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Robyn

I know you can find it on Amazon, perhaps a partner or university library will have it. The story was told in the movie Something The Lord Made. One thing that was remarkable for the time was that Blalock, who was a world class and well respected surgeon, fought for Thomas to be his aide and even in operating rooms, despite the fact that he was a black man. The portraits of the two men, along with Helen Taussig, hang in the same hallway at the entrance to the Blalock wing at the hospital, which was unheard of at the time Thomas was awarded his honorary doctorate. Interesting story, too, is that Hopkins could not/would not award an honorary medical doctorate, so Thomas was given a doctorate of laws

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Denise

There are several biographies about Vivien Thomas, just not the autobiography. I will keep trying

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KristinQuestion author

When I got to the part of the radium treatment, I knew that would be up next. 🙂

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Pat

I loved this book!! It had a big impact on me. Oprah’s movie left a lot of the story untold.

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Sherry

Great book

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Patricia

Didn’t like

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KristinQuestion author

Really? Why not?

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Adelle

I really enjoyed this book & recommended it several friends.

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Maureen

Wow what a story,huh?

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Kim

Great book. I didn’t like the film.

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Maryann

Crazy this went on

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Katie

I bet nobody who reads it will do those saliva dna geneolody tests! Nope. Such a great book.

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Jeanne

Great book – my friend and I just discussed that we were surprised it didn’t make the list.

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Lori

A memorable book

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Rita

Amazing book!

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Monica

Loved it.

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Carolyn

Loved it

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Dion

Loved it

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Gayle

It’s on my TBR list and keep hearing great things about it.

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Kirsten

That book is in my top 3 of best books. The myriad of emotions you go through reading it, it’s like a rollercoaster.

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Cat

Hard (and sad)to believe it is non fiction

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Stephanie

Great book!

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Beth

Amazing story.

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Patti

I read this book last fall, then got several friends to read it. It haunted me for weeks. It still does.

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Nanette

I read it for book club. It is outstanding. Very informative. Very sad how the family was taken advantage of.

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KristinQuestion author

Agreed! What really upsets me about the way the medical/scientific community treated the family is that it was systemic to the medical community. That’s pretty much how they treated all black families.

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Zenaida

Loved it

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Cindy

One of my faves

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Sandi

Excellent book.

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John

Great book…

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Amar

Loved that book!

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Linda

Loved it!

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Laura

I loved that book so much. So interesting.

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Karen

Enjoyed it and it was unbelievable what the medical field got away with in terms of recognition and monetarily.

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EN

It is also a present day issue; not resolved.

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Karen

So true.

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Elaine

An amazing story!

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Chris

That was our One Book One Richmond selection at U of R one of the years I was at school there. Awesome book!

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Anyte

really liked that bk!

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Judi

Such a great book…..I’ve recommended it to complete strangers (cause reading in public places elicits questions). Watched 10 minutes of the movie and changed channels.

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Susan

That was a very interesting book.

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Peggy

I had no idea about her until I read the book!

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Leslie

So sad it happened to her.

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Pam

The journalist did an amazing job with this important story. The movie didn’t do the book justice!

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Kathy

I was, by turns, furious and awed when reading this. Very compelling.

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Jo

I loved this book!

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Jeanne

Fantastic book in many ways!!!

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Judy

Loved this to death. This was such an informative read. We did it in our book club gr8 so many responses.

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Barbara

This was the first e-book I ever purchased and read after I retired. Love the combination of bio/history/science.

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Judy

Barbara, I agree whole heartedly. Great you found it a great book as well.

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Christie

I never heard of this until your post! I ordered it & can’t wait to read it. Recently finished Radium Girls – I find stories dealing with ethics along with history & medical science very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

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Judy

U just finished it and was floored. What a hoor.

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Christine

Such an informative and engaging book. Most of all, an important story which so many of us probably had not known.

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Jennifer

Great book! Amazing story

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Christi

It was our community One Read book, and was great. Not so sure about the movie – haven’t watched it, but so much of the book wouldn’t translate well into a movie. Documentary, maybe.

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Nita

We have a book club at theHealth Center for Colorado State University. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and the Radium Girls are 2 of the books on the list.

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Tiffany

Amazing, truthful story!

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Sandy

I listened to this one. Amazing.

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Mary

Great book

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JoDee

Incredible story! Loved it!

1
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Jean

Loved it

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Marcy

Great one!

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Patricia

Great book, but so sad.

1
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Nadine

Great book. I loved it.

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Cindy

Eye opening book

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Leah

So good!

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Lisa

frustratingly sad movie – but I’ve found that truth is always stranger than fiction

1
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Rachel

This book was very good.

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Ellen

A wonderful book!

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Jonell

It was so interesting! Loved it!

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Tammie

This is a great book. It should be taught in school.

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Tara

Great book!

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Kathy

Important story. Didn’t anyone get distracted with the details?

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Pam

the story line does jump around and relations get mixed up, but such important look into how those magical cells replicate and have been used for cures and healing of so many different illness.

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Judy

Didn’t worry about confusions. I was so busy following Henrietta’s horrir.

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Bruce

Good read

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Linda

tried to read it 3 times and then gave up…tho the story is important

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Lelys

Fantastic read.

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Geni

It’s incredible how unfair they treated her family.

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Judy

Still happening.

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Sandra

Good one! Enjoy!

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Chip-Lori

On my list!

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Laura

Ooh yeah that’s soo good. The movie left out a lot.

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Cheryl

Incredible book!

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Jean

Amazing read!!

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Tamara

Great book and movie

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Meredeth

I have the book- may be next on my ‘to read’ list!

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Annestasia

I didn’t enjoy the movie that HBO did on the book. How does the book compare to the movie?

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Amy

The book is much, much more detailed and in-depth of the lives of her family, how the author wound up working on this story in the first place, and the relationship that evolved between the author and Henrietta’s daughter. I think seeing the movie without having read the book there would be a lot of confusion around what was going on with the daughter (Deborah I think was her name). In the book the emotional stress and intensity all of this had on her and the whole family is far more tangible and makes it clearer. Also, there is fascinating information on the medical side, along with historical tidbits, etc. that I found reader friendly and not too technical.

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Margaret

The book is so very good!

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Sarah

I enjoyed reading this book, very interesting!

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Rebecka

I didn’t expect to like it but I did.

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Amy

Wonderful book!

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Ro

Amazing book.

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Angela

I loved loved that book! It will make you mad too!

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Thorey

It is eye opening and enjoyable.

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Nicole

It is one of the best books!

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Gretchen

This book is outstanding on so many levels! What a story…that most of us do not know!

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Kathleen

Read the book. Eye opening.

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Karen

Amazing.

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Kathy

Oh that’s a good one. And Oprah is so good in the movie!

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Barbara

It is a great book. An eye opener.

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KristinQuestion author

Shocking!

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Ann

What a great book.

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Laurence

It is truly amazing. Enjoy

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Lori

I almost bought this at goodwill today….I knew I was gonna regret not getting it!

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Carol

It is an amazing, shocking story.

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Linda

A great book to read! Check out the movie as well.

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Cheryl

I felt for that woman; change seems so slow in medicine.

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KristinQuestion author

And because of the profit motive, I’m pretty sure it will take an act of legislation to change anything.

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Tracy

Fascinating story. And I often had to remind myself that it is nonfiction.

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Ann

It’s amazing. The movie doesn’t do it justice.

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Barb

Great book, and a true story

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Kathie

One of my all time favorite! So well written

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Elizabeth

Wonderful!!
I remember it was the first nonfiction that I read after A Million Little Pieces and noticing the pages and pages of sources in the back.

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Michele

Great book, really interesting.

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Sally

It’s on my “to read” shelf; sounds great!

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Janice

It is phenomenal. I discovered a whole new genre of narrative non fiction with this book.

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Jo

Also reading it for our library book club.

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Janice

What is the name of the movie?.

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Maureen

The same name as the book.

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Amy

It was a TV movie

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Meredeth

Same name, I think.

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Linda

Excellent read!

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Rosemary

Great impact on me.

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Susie

Amazing research writing!

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Karla

Very good story. And it is true.

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Linda

Is that on the list? I thought they were all novels. It’s a great book though.

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Mindy

It may not be on the list but in terms of non-fiction biographies, this ranks high in interest, compassion, history and thought-provoking insight. It tore me up,it made me laugh, it made me think and it gave me hope.

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Karen

Good book. I loved it!

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Paul

Yes, i enjoyed it immenseley

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Brianna

That’s one of my favorite medical biographies

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Lizz

I can’t wait to read it!

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Penni

Really interesting read!

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Carole

Fascinating! Loved it!

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Gail

Memorable!

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Sherri

Wonderful book.

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Linda

It is a great book!

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Judy

Was so informed and glued to this title.

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Paula

Super read!!

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Carole

Just finished reading “Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane” by Lisa See. Beautiful story. Highly recommend!

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Amanda

On sale today on amazon kindle version for 2.99

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Karen

oh well missed it

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Amanda

@Karen. The kindle version is still 2.99 today … Sat, Sept 8 ?

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Kathleen

I also really enjoyed the book. Revealing and thought provoking.

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Jeanne

An incredble amount research! And I loved all the stories with the story. Truly, an amazingly work!

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Pat

This is an amazing story! Absolutely loved it!

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Linda

This was a book club read. We’ve been meeting for years but all of us agreed this was our all time favorite book sadly the movie that came out didn’t focus on Henrietta much , more her daughter. And the family is still getting ripped off up to today.

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Cindy

I teach this to my senior English classes. Amazing.

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Maureen

Loved this book,just unbelievable!

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Fran

Great book!

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Angela

Fantastic book! Sad and amazing story.

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Baily

Don’t forget to watch the movie as well! Book and movie are both excellent.

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Loretta

Was wonderful and very disturbing what was was done.

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Cynthia

I picked that up at the library very good!

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Jo

Well researched, detailed – yet an amazing story that is very readable.

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Phyllis

Great book!!!

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Maureen

Great read!

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Camille

I think this is one of the best books I have ever read!

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Nicole

And on sale $2.99 on kindle right now.

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Elizabeth

LOVED it and found it amazing!

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Ginger

Me too, Elizabeth!

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Patti

Haunting in so many ways.

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Amy

Loved it! Just finished it!

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Susan

It is in my TBR list.

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Barbara

I read it several years ago it is an important read.

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Cathy

Great book!!!

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Jean

A “MUST READ”!!!

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Kathy

SO good. See the movie w/Oprah too!

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Ann

Such a stunning book!

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Joy

Amazing amazing story

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Jane

It IS amazing and an education in itself!

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Sandye

Great book!

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Carla

That is one amazing book and one amazing lady. True story!

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Sharon

A big must read!!!! Love the documentary!!! Amazing story!

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Stacey

Truly compelling read. I couldn’t put it down.

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Pam

Wonderful read not great movie. The family stories are very different. At times not as compelling as all the wonderful achievements from these cells.

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Stacey

I never did see the movie but I’m sure glad I read the book!

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Carol

A great book. I recommend it to everyone.

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Judi

It is a great book. I was at a fast food place reading while eating. A complete stranger came over, asked what I was reading, and could I recommend anything for her book club? My response was….The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. You gotta love readers!

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Janice

Love this narrative nonfiction style of writing.

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Beth

I heard about this in nursing school but read the book when it came out. Amazing.

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Reply
Rickee

Fabulous book, but such a sad story. I am still outraged by how this woman and her family were treated by the medical and scientific communities.

6
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Wendy

Powerful!

1
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