I started listening to this book on Libby; then I picked up up at the library when I saw it on a display. I finished it late last evening because I couldn't put it down. Having lived near where Henrietta Lacks lived in Baltimore it really hit close to home when Skloot describes the setting of Dundalk and the steel mills.

This is a must read story about how African Americans were treated medically. Learning that there were no hospitals to take them when they were sick or injured except Johns Hopkins was horrific. The author describes some people just going to the hospital and being turned away. Although, this book covers an ugly part of our history with mental patients in Crownsville, MD and how the medical industry took fluids and tissues of black people who were just going in for help without telling them is eye-opening. Skloot does an excellent job of sharing the medical knowledge without becoming too complicated.

The story of Henrietta's daughter, Deborah, and her search for her mother's story is powerful. The author is actually part of this story. This book should be read by anyone wanting to enter the medical profession. It also would be fantastic if there was a young adult version of this book for younger readers. It is an excellent resource for learning more about African American history in the United States in the 20th century.

I read this book after seeing the author, interviewed recently about it. I actually listened to it on the Libby app. It was read by the author so it was very well-read. She begins with her story of her mother and how she met her husband and the choices her mother made given society's roles for women. She describes her childhood growing up in Virginia with her brothers and her parents on a farm in great detail. She documents the race relations in Virginia at that time. My favorite part was when she went away to school first to a private prep school and then to Byrn Mawr; because she really describes her evolution and growth from a small town in Virginia to a more worldly outlook. She was able to go because of her academic achievement. This book illustrates how hard work, diligence, and a drive to achieve more than her mother was able to as a woman. It was fascinating learning about her trips to Eastern Europe during the beginning of the Cold War and her tour of East Germany where she learned about their view of "freedom" and how different it was. Also, she describes how MLK Jr. came to a nearby college, and they took a field trip to go see him speak. It culminates with her graduation from college. This book is very topical and shows how far we've come in the civil rights movement; yet how far we still need to go. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in a first person narrative of American history from the 1930s-1960s.