Month: January 2020

The structure of TILOHL weaves 4 different storylines throughout one another. It includes a Henrietta storyline, the cells, Skloot (the author) and Deborah’s storyline. All of these are included to add more information to build a detailed book. The Henrietta storyline mainly appears at the beginning to introduce her and the situation to begin the story. The cell’s story is included to add scientific background to explain terms and knowledge needed to understand the situation. Deborah’s story is included to learn more about the family and her journey to discover more about her mother and what happened. In the FAQ of the book it was said that everyone said she needed to include her perspective and story in the book as she had put so much time and effort into making the book and her journey to get interviews and meetings to make a stronger story. The quote was “You have to put that in the book, because the family’s response to you is part of the story—it shows how deeply they’ve been affected by Henrietta’s cells and their legacy.” Also Deborah said Henrietta would be mad if she didn’t include herself.

I like the way that the book is written as even though there are 4 different storylines included in the book, they all flow really well and seem naturally written. All the different perspectives in the book are necessary for the story and all play apart in educating people on HeLa cells and what happened. I also like the separation of having 3 different parts to split up different stages in the journey of the story.