The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks 6pm

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Born a poor black tobacco farmer, her cancer cells – taken without her knowledge – became a multimillion-dollar industry and one of the most important tools in medicine. Yet Henrietta’s family did not learn of her ‘immortality’ until more than twenty years after her death, with devastating consequences . . .

Rebecca Skloot’s fascinating account is the story of the life, and afterlife, of one woman who changed the medical world forever. Balancing the beauty and drama of scientific discovery with dark questions about who owns the stuff our bodies are made of, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an extraordinary journey in search of the soul and story of a real woman, whose cells live on today in all four corners of the world.

No dead woman has done more for the living . . . A fascinating, harrowing, necessary book. Hilary Mantel, Guardian

Time and venue

Our book club venue is currently at our bookshop.

The book club will run from 6-7.15pm

Our book club is free. All we ask is that you buy the book from us, but of course, we don't insist.

The paperback is available in the shop.

IMPORTANT: If you find that you can no longer make it, please do let us know as soon as you can, by cancelling your ticket on TicketTailor (our ticket platform) or calling us at the shop during our shop hours. This will then enable us to allocate your ticket in good time to someone on the waiting list.