Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a Connecticut hospital with more than twenty years' experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she's been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don't want Ruth, who is African American, to touch their child. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. Does she obey orders or does she intervene?
Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy's counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible for her family—especially her teenage son—as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other's trust, and come to see that what they've been taught their whole lives about others—and themselves—might be wrong.
I love Jodi Picoult's work. And it isn't just because in Small Great Things she mentioned Depeche Mode, my most favourite band EVER, but it's because she's incredibly talented.
Plain Truth was the first book of Jodi's that I read and I was hooked! I can honestly say that I've enjoyed all of her books, some more than others, but that's not to say I haven't liked/loved them all. But this book...THIS book is my favourite (so far).
Small Great Things spared much to think about—there's a lot to digest and process with themes of race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion. Picoult expresses that racism can be active and obvious, as well as passive in terms of privilege and biases. It is obvious she did her homework, but did she do enough? I think so—even though it was a little didactic at times—but I have to preface that with my lack of experience with race issues and also from my white privilege position in life.
Not unlike her other books, there are alternating perspectives, interesting characters that deliver page-turning dialogue, and courtroom drama (which is where I think Picoult's writing excels). The difference between 4 and 5 stars is because of the ending. Obviously I'm not going to spoil it, but it tied up a little too neat, and as we all know, life is messy.
JODI PICOULT received an AB in creative writing from Princeton and a master’s degree in education from Harvard. The recipient of the 2003 New England Book Award for her entire body of work, she is the author of twenty-four novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers House Rules, Handle With Care, Change of Heart, and My Sister’s Keeper, for which she received the American Library Association’s Margaret Alexander Edwards Award.
She lives in New Hampshire with her husband. They have three children.
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