As much as I think Jodi Picoult is an excellent writer – I stopped reading after the first book of hers that I read. My work involves working with people who are having a tough time and Picoult’s books tend to delve into truly tragic subjects.
However, I decided to go back to her writing after I heard a recent interview with Picoult about her most recent book, Small Great Things. This was in spite of the fact that the subject matter is just as sad as her previous books.
Picoult was inspired to write Small Great Things after she heard about a discrimination case in the US. A Registered Nurse and Midwife was directed by her hospital employer not to touch a newborn baby because the Nurse was African American and the baby’s parents were white supremacists. Unsurprisingly, the real life discrimination case was successful.
The fictional nurse in Small Great Things, Ruth Jefferson, is placed in an even more invidious position. Due to staffing issues, Ruth finds herself in charge of the special care nursery when the baby she has been directed not to touch suffers a seizure and subsequent cardiac arrest. Her actions and inactions become the subject of a criminal investigation and court case.
Although the story is obviously tragic, it was strangely uplifting. The very personal story of Ruth’s relationship with her white public defender, Kennedy, is beautifully believable. I found myself relating to Kennedy who so desperately wants to understand her client but is a victim of her own unconscious biases. She slowly opens her eyes to the subtle discrimination in everyday life against racial minorities. Things like when Kennedy is watching the Lion King with her daughter and noticing, for the first time, the evil hyenas speak with African American slang.
I loved this book and can’t recommend it highly enough.
