More lengthy travel allowed me to catch up on a lot of reading. First up was an award-winning book which had been on my "to read" list for a long (long, long) time. This fascinating nonfiction story is told in many layers. There is the author, Rebecca Skloot, who took years to research and write this story. There is the family of Henrietta Lacks, who were used and abused but never rewarded for the sacrifice which was made. There is the medical establishment which cares nothing for the people affected by their work. And there is Henrietta. A woman, a mother, a wife, a cancer victim ... a force of nature. Skloot does an incredible job of weaving these storylines into one another, showing how Henrietta was part of a family, how that family was impacted by her life and death, how doctors took from the family and never gave back. Skloot's task, trying to track down the threads of this mystery and weave them into something which made sense, are also part of the tale. It is through her impassioned eyes that we get to know the Lacks clan and the racial challenges faced by so many poor people of color. Skloot doesn't spare anyone in showing how so many used pieces of Henrietta but none of them seemed to know her at all. It's amazingly accessible reading considering the amount of scientific information covered. It's mind-blowing and emotionally resonant. It's not just a good book, it's downright important. Though it was written nearly a decade ago, the themes it covers are still remarkably powerful today. One of my top reads of the year.
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