#1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is a born storyteller who “writes with a fine touch, a sharp eye for detail, and a firm grasp of the delicacy and complexity of human relationships” (The Boston Globe). Small Great Things is Picoult at her finest–complete with unflinching insights, richly layered characters, and a page-turning plot with a gripping moral dilemma at its heart.
… dilemma at its heart.
Ruth Jefferson, a labor and delivery nurse, 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, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone on the ward. 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 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–especially for her teenaged son. And as the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy come to see that what they’ve been taught their whole lives about others–and themselves–might be wrong.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Thought provoking
Reading helps us to see things from another point of view because we can see inside the character and read their very thoughts. This novel is one of the best uses of reading this decade. I would recommend this book to everyone I know. It conquers a tough subject but is very engaging and interesting at the same time. The story pulls you through.
In a year when we realize division and racism are much worse in America than we’d like to pretend, this book can help bring understanding and insight to those who don’t see their own privilege and their own racism.
Thank you Jodi for writing this.
Raw but beautiful, guaranteed to pull at your heartstrings.
One of my all time favorite Jodi Picoult books. Picoult has written a story relevant to issues in society that need to be brought to light. My husband and I both enjoyed it.
This book was not what I thought it was going to be about! It was something I thought was really good especially in the world we are living in right now, having to do with racism. It really opened my eyes to what is going on and how we see things and I would read it again! It had lots of drama that kept me really engaged until the very end of the book! You wanted to read every single last page till you figured out what was going to happen.
Very important book in 2020. Amazing insight and called into question my own prejudices and at a minimum, I am less ignorant of them impacting my life
Makes one aware of the subtleties of racism.
I would give this book a 6 if it was available. Frightening and brave choices have to be made by a black nurse caring for newborns in a hospital setting. The effects of those decisions on her and her son…this is a must read.
This novel addresses the systemic racism that is a issue in our culture today. It allows individuals to explore the undetected unnoticed racial inequalities and prejudices that sometimes exist. The author skillfully provides the opportunity to examine these issues through the eyes of well developed characters you really get to know. Book clubs will find it presents a way to honestly ease into a challenging topic of great importance. It will most likely leave you changed for the better.
This book really makes you think. As always, Jodi Picoult did an amazing amount of research to write this book. It really grabs you.
Loved this story! Very believable!
Author Jodi Picoult takes on racism in this novel, along with a moral dilemma: do you follow supervisor’s orders, or do you do what is morally correct?
The story is written from three points of view: a Black nurse, a white public defender and a White Supremacist. As I was reading the nurse’s viewpoint, several times I thought “how does this white author think that she can presume to know what Ruth is feeling/going through?” Ms. Picoult explains in the author’s notes at the end.
There are two quotes at the end of the book that sum things up beautifully:
“…I don’t get angry. I am angry… I just don’t let it show. … I play a role, I put on a game face … I do it because if I don’t, I could lose my job, My house, Myself. …”
“Freedom is the fragile neck of a daffodil, after the longest of winters. It’s the sound of your voice, without anyone drowning you out. It’s having the grace to say yes, and more important, the right to say no.”
Lessons we all can learn.
Jodi Picoult can do no wrong. I have read all her books and she loves to put a twist into the plot.
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult is a novel of this ERA. A very caring black labor-delivery nurse is restricted from taking care of a white couple’s baby because of their Social Practices -beliefs. As you can predict the infant experiences cardiac distress and the black nurse is accused of neglect because she was present when the tragedy occurred.
Reading the novel helps you experience what it is like to be a black successful career person being discriminated while shopping, as just enjoying life and raising a brilliant high school son .
Naturally there is a surprise at the conclusion of the novel.
This novel is worthy of your time.
5
This was a very provocative book about racial discord and it challenged me as a white woman. It has to be one of my all time favorite books of those that had me rethinking my beliefs and actions toward others.
Once again Jodi Picoult has knocked it out of the park! I love how she always takes on tough issues in her novels and presents them in a way that makes the reader look at them from an angle they may never have thought to. Small Great Things is no exception. In this case the issue is racism. The story is told from the point of view of three characters: Ruth, an African American labor and delivery nurse, Turk, a white supremist who refuses to allow Ruth to care for his newborn son, and Kennedy, the lawyer who takes on Ruth’s case.
I loved that Picoult chose these three characters to tell the story. The chapters from Turk’s point of view can be difficult to read given all the hate that infests his mind and soul and that of his wife, Brit. However, when it is learned that both Turk and Brit were raised by white supremists and that rhetoric is all they’ve ever known it does open a window on why some people hold such hateful beliefs. It also shows how they are perpetuated through the generations. Ms. Picoult mentions in her acknowledgments that she interviewed two former white supremists to get all the beliefs and terminology correct. Knowing the accuracy of that part of the story is a chilling reality check.
Kennedy should and probably does make many white readers uncomfortable. She’s a white lawyer who believes she’s not at all racist, that she “doesn’t even see color.” Through her work with Ruth she comes to find out that she does hold racist beliefs she never knew she had. They are not hateful in the way of Turk and Brit, but perhaps even more uncomfortable because they come from a centuries-long indoctrination of racism in the form of all things white being the standard by which all else is judged. Kennedy learns a lot about herself and about how society continually, if obliviously, perpetuates racism. The open minded reader should learn a lot, too.
Ruth is a compelling character. She struggles with racism every day, yet often turns a blind eye to it, setting aside her own pain. She has a sister who loves her but faults her for this trait. As the story unfolds, the unassuming, hard working, just trying to get along Ruth has no choice but to tackle racism head on. When push comes to shove, she finds she has a deep inner strength she may never before have realized. Like Kennedy, she learns a lot about herself.
The characters in this book are all so real, so human. The story is so gripping I found myself thinking about it even when I wasn’t reading it. Highly recommended!
A perspective of a black nurse in the 1960s south. Lots of conflict, racial issues and a surprise twist at the end. Well done.
Loved it!
Jodi always makes us think, assess our own thoughts/prejudices and gives real issues their due.
Made me think about and question my own racism and privilege. As usual, Jodi Picoult tackles complex issues and considers them from many points of view.