Region of Waterloo Library discussion

As much as this book is about Henrietta Lacks, it is also about Deborah learning of the mother she barely knew, while also
finding out the truth about her sister, Elsie. Imagine discovering similar information about one of your family members.
How would you react? What questions would you ask?

I think if I were Deborah I would have some serious father issues! It didn't seem like she was overly resentful of her father, but not especially close to him either. But if it were me, I'd be asking why he abandoned my sister like that, never bothering to visit after Henrietta's death, not to mention why he let a cruel woman like Ethel care for the rest of his children and did nothing about Galen's inappropriate behavior towards Deborah.

I don't want to sound too harsh here. I mean, much as I appreciate my husband for being such a good father to our two-year-old son, I'm not sure how well he would fare as a single dad if I were to die right now at much the same age as Henrietta was when she died. I can't even imagine how overwhelming that would be for any parent to cope with. He would definitely need some help with the childcare, but fortunately for our family there are lots of good, affordable options. This sadly wasn't true for Deborah's father.

Still, when I put myself in her shoes, I can't help but feel that all five of the Lacks children deserved better from their father, and that their lives as well as the lives of their own children might have turned out differently had they received more loving, non-abusive care growing up.

Leanne wrote: "I think if I were Deborah I would have some serious father issues! It didn't seem like she was overly resentful of her father, but not especially close to him either. But if it were me, I'd be aski..."

How do you think things would have play out if Deborah's father could have accessed the resources that exist now? Did his choices reflect a lack of care or a lack of options?

For Deborah and her brothers at least, perhaps a slightly happier childhood would have increased their chances of getting a better education, staying out of jail (in Joe's case) and ending up with higher paying jobs. But then again, perhaps not, because of the way society was at the time. You know, the book has such a strong narrative that I think I got caught up in the story and started looking at everyone in it as book characters, kind of forgetting they are/were all real people. In my mind I made Day and Ethel and Galen out to be villains because of the way they treated the children, and although some of their behaviour was certainly inexcusable, we don't really know their side of the story, do we?

Leanne wrote: "For Deborah and her brothers at least, perhaps a slightly happier childhood would have increased their chances of getting a better education, staying out of jail (in Joe's case) and ending up with ..."

That's such a great point! With that in mind, I wonder how many others in their neighborhood had similar stories.

Henrietta was a beautiful person, taking in relatives and making lunches for them so they wouldn't go hungry, which makes reading this so much more painful. Their lives would have been vastly different if she hadn't died.