~~~Book Club Check-In~~~UPDATED

[TJ]

What about the fact that Henrietta and her cousin used to sneak out and go dancing? Who was she sneaking away from? Day? Or the kids? And did that mean the kids were at home? Alone? Overnight?

[DGM]

Jan 22, 2015 11:45:09 GMT -5 TJ said:

What about the fact that Henrietta and her cousin used to sneak out and go dancing? Who was she sneaking away from? Day? Or the kids? And did that mean the kids were at home? Alone? Overnight?

I didn't even think about that. You guys are a great book club!



ETA I thought they were still at the home-house in Clover where other adults would've been home, but I was wrong.

[grumpycakes]

Jan 22, 2015 11:45:09 GMT -5 TJ said:

What about the fact that Henrietta and her cousin used to sneak out and go dancing? Who was she sneaking away from? Day? Or the kids? And did that mean the kids were at home? Alone? Overnight?

They said it was on the nights that Day worked.  It wasn't explicitly said, but I assumed she left the kids in bed alone.

[unaveragejane]

Yeah, I assumed the kids were alone. My dad talks about camping in the woods with his cousins when they were just 9 or 10. Waaaay different times then.

What about the description near the beginning of how women used to gather at the general store and their babies would nap in a row on the counter? That baffles me. Did babies sleep more soundly back then?

[DGM]

As if Henrietta's life wasn't hard enough, I reread just now about when they sent Elsie away I worked with kids with special needs. I understand they can get too big for Mom or Dad to handle, but the fact that she made the effort to go see Elsie once/week...that's love. I took care of kids whose parents would hardly visit, and it was sad.

[chickypoo2468]

Jan 22, 2015 11:44:12 GMT -5 TJ said:

Jan 22, 2015 11:38:06 GMT -5 unaveragejane said:

chickypoo2468 I thought it was kind of normal for rural areas. Land gets passed down, and you make of it what you can. I know some of the Lackses moved off and made better wages than those who were farming in Clover, but I don't think a lot of that money got sent back home. I just figured the folks in the big house across the road came from wealthier circumstances or found a way to make more money.

For me, the moment that stood out was how Day brought the kids to play outside the hospital. I teared up picturing it. Henrietta endured so, so much. They were literally burning her body while the cancer ate her insides. No pain relief was working, and it was too unbearable to have her kids in the room with her. Oh man.

YES!  I was also somewhat shocked that he did that.  It's weird how he seems on the one hand to be such a jerk, getting his cousin pregnant at 14, was bringing home stds all the time, etc.  And yet, he dutifully took her to and brought her home from Johns Hopkins for her treatments, and took the kids up there to to play outside the hospital so she could look at them.  It was nice to see him being thoughtful.

I was just coming here to talk about this! Maybe it goes with what Jane said about stepping out being common, maybe he really did love her but that was just how it was. He seems dedicated, to take her there every day even when he was working and im sure it was less than convenient and then to visit her and then bring the kids to play outside the window.

And about the property- I guess I just got confused bc she talks about how abandoned clover is, then says there's a definite line where clover ends (with the nice house) and lacks town begins (with the abandoned building).

[grumpycakes]

Jan 22, 2015 13:35:59 GMT -5 unaveragejane said:

Yeah, I assumed the kids were alone. My dad talks about camping in the woods with his cousins when they were just 9 or 10. Waaaay different times then.

What about the description near the beginning of how women used to gather at the general store and their babies would nap in a row on the counter? That baffles me. Did babies sleep more soundly back then?

This was before we knew much about SIDS so they were probably all snoring away on their bellies surrounded by blankets.

[sgriff1]

So I'm not sure if it's just my pregnancy hormones but this book is making me so sad!

I keep catching myself thinking what it would be like to be Henrietta and just feeling so sorry for her. I really wonder if she chose to be with Dey, or if she just ended up with him because they grew up together and she doesn't seem like she's one to start trouble or stand up for herself. Also, my heart absolutely breaks for her about her daughter Elsie, how incredibly sad.

[velvethelicopters]

Jan 21, 2015 9:37:11 GMT -5 grumpycakes said:

What do you think about the common practice described in the book of doctors withholding medical information from patients they either didn't want to worry or didn't think would completely understand?  Henrietta said she would have refused treatment if she had been told it would cause infertility.  Do you think that information was withheld from her because the doctors suspected that and knew she needed treatment?  Or maybe it was simply overlooked?

Writing style reads as if other patients were fully informed to that era of medicine.  But lack of informed consent was rampant in that era, and is not unheard of today.  US medicine has long refused to consider lack of consent to be a problem if something is questionable, despite the Nazi doctor trials jumping up and down trying to be visible.

 I also wonder if it's a lack of understanding. Johns Hopkins is full of doctor speak that I don't always understand and I am in the pharmaceutical industry. My youngest future sister-in-law is 13 and highly gifted, but if you throw around fancy, formal medical terms, she'll have no idea what's being asked of her. She's a tough kid so she'll demand clarification. Mrs Lacks however reads as a woman who won't question anyone and go along with them. My understanding from other sources says Johns Hopkins got consent for treatment that would cause infertility. So both could be right to their minds.

Everyone says that George Gey never met Henrietta Lacks, expect for one his colleagues who claims he whispered to her that her cells would make her immortal.  Do you think this really happened or is it wishful thinking?

The given response doesn't fit the speech patterns shown before in the book. So wishful thinking.

The author's research trips were rife with serendipitous events.  She stayed at the same hotel as the author of the 1970's magazine article, she finally got to see the documentary she had been searching for, and the first person she met in Clover was Henrietta's first cousin.  Deborah believed that Henrietta's spirit still lived in her cells and controlled the life of anyone who came across them.  Do you think that this story was somehow "meant to be?"

More small town to me.  Go to my home town, you have one hotel and you are 75% likely to meet a relative of mine. Video seems logical, but more because of things mentioned later or in other reports.