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A review by jodieworton
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I am always conscious of reading books that are written by white authors that explore Black racial issues (whilst being from a POV of a POC) BUT I was extremely surprised with how well this book comes across. There was also an authors note at the end of the book which goes into detail as to why she needed to write this story and also her consciousness as a white woman, writing a story about issues that she would never have faced.
The book was not perfect, and did feel at times a checkbox was being made as we went along, specifically to do with Ruth and her Son.
The story is told from 3 pov’s, a black nurse, Ruth, a white supremacist, Turk, and a white attorney, Kennedy. the story begins with Ruth working her jobs as a labour and delivery nurse, who happens to be working when Turk and his wife are admitted into the hospital for the birth of their chil. Ruth is not in the room when the birth takes place, however, they are handed off to her when she comes in for her shift to run the babies checks. As she is doing her job and talking to the new parents, it becomes clear something is off, the parents are silent and just staring at her. Ruth continues to care for the baby and even offers to help the mother, Brittany, with getting the baby to latch. At this point Turk tells Ruth to step away and to get her manager.
It then transpires that this couple are White Supremacists and do not want any African American staff to touch, assist, look after their baby. The manager of the ward complies with their request and puts a note in their file. This of course, offends Ruth and she wonders why her manager does not have her back, her manager compares this to someone having different religious views - this is very different.
What later transpires is Ruth is left alone with the Supermacists baby whilst an emergency is happening, all the team were aware that Ruth was the only person who could watch the baby.
Whilst she is watching him, the baby goes into cardiac arrest and Ruth is faced with a dilemma, to not do anything (like the note in the file says) or to intervene to try and save the babies life. She chooses the later, that is her job, but when her boss come back to check on her, she sees ruth just looking at the baby, as if she hadn’t done anything (even though she had, but it was likely too late for Ruth to save the child) at this point, her boss steps in and tells her to start compressions.
The baby dies, Ruth is suspended, the hospital does not protect her and she is arrested for murder of the child.
All the characters go on their own journeys whether that is Kennedy understanding her Client more than she did before and also the trying times Black/POC face, and Turk eventually seeing the flawed nature of his way of thinking (this felt a little to ‘and they lived happily ever after to me’) and with Ruth accepting what happened to her and making sure she spoke her truth.
I could write a lot about this book but this review is already quite long, I wanted to give a snippet into what the book is about and the important themes that are explored - I would recommend reading this book
The book was not perfect, and did feel at times a checkbox was being made as we went along, specifically to do with Ruth and her Son.
The story is told from 3 pov’s, a black nurse, Ruth, a white supremacist, Turk, and a white attorney, Kennedy. the story begins with Ruth working her jobs as a labour and delivery nurse, who happens to be working when Turk and his wife are admitted into the hospital for the birth of their chil. Ruth is not in the room when the birth takes place, however, they are handed off to her when she comes in for her shift to run the babies checks. As she is doing her job and talking to the new parents, it becomes clear something is off, the parents are silent and just staring at her. Ruth continues to care for the baby and even offers to help the mother, Brittany, with getting the baby to latch. At this point Turk tells Ruth to step away and to get her manager.
It then transpires that this couple are White Supremacists and do not want any African American staff to touch, assist, look after their baby. The manager of the ward complies with their request and puts a note in their file. This of course, offends Ruth and she wonders why her manager does not have her back, her manager compares this to someone having different religious views - this is very different.
What later transpires is Ruth is left alone with the Supermacists baby whilst an emergency is happening, all the team were aware that Ruth was the only person who could watch the baby.
Whilst she is watching him, the baby goes into cardiac arrest and Ruth is faced with a dilemma, to not do anything (like the note in the file says) or to intervene to try and save the babies life. She chooses the later, that is her job, but when her boss come back to check on her, she sees ruth just looking at the baby, as if she hadn’t done anything (even though she had, but it was likely too late for Ruth to save the child) at this point, her boss steps in and tells her to start compressions.
The baby dies, Ruth is suspended, the hospital does not protect her and she is arrested for murder of the child.
All the characters go on their own journeys whether that is Kennedy understanding her Client more than she did before and also the trying times Black/POC face, and Turk eventually seeing the flawed nature of his way of thinking (this felt a little to ‘and they lived happily ever after to me’) and with Ruth accepting what happened to her and making sure she spoke her truth.
I could write a lot about this book but this review is already quite long, I wanted to give a snippet into what the book is about and the important themes that are explored - I would recommend reading this book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, and Pregnancy