Small Great Things

Small Great Things
Author Jodi Picoult
Country United States
Language English
Genre Novel
Published October 11, 2016
Publisher Ballantine Books
Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
ISBN 9780345544971

Small Great Things, is a work of fiction by American author Jodi Picoult. Picoult chose the title from the words of Martin Luther King, "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way."[1] The book deals with the issue of race in American and revolves around the protagonist, a delivery nurse named Ruth Jefferson.[2] The book was adapted into a film starring Viola Davis and Julia Roberts.[3]

Synopsis

The story line involves an African-American labor/delivery nurse in charge of newborns at a Connecticut hospital. She is ordered not to touch the baby of a white supremacist couple. After the baby dies in her care, she is charged with murder and taken to court.[4] The story is told from the complex multiple racial perspectives of the principal characters, the nurse Ruth, Turk Bauer, the white supremacist father of the baby, and Kennedy McQuarrie, Ruth's lawyer.[5]

Characters

  • Ruth Jefferson: A twenty-year employed nurse at Mercy-West Haven Hospital.
  • Edison: Ruth's son.
  • Adisa: Ruth's sister.
  • Turk Bauer: A white supremacist with swastika tattoos.
  • Brittany Bauer("Brit"):Turk's wife.
  • Francis: Brit's father
  • Kennedy: Ruth's public defender/lawyer
  • Micah: Kennedy's husband
  • Violet: Kennedy and Micah's daughter
  • Wallace Mercy: a popular televangelist

Minor characters

  • Sam Hallowell: the man for whose family Ruth's mother works as a domestic servant.
  • Rachel: Adisa’s birth name, which she changes as a young adult.
  • Ms. Mina: the woman for whose family Ruth’s mother works as a domestic servant.
  • Christina: Ms. Mina’s daughter. She is around Ruth’s age and they are friends.
  • Corrine: a nurse who works alongside Ruth.
  • Lucille
  • Jack DeNardi: an office clerk "paper pusher" at the hospital, from whom Kennedy "fishes" information.
  • Judge "Thunder" Turner: the judge who presides over Ruth’s court trials.
  • Howard: Kennedy's assistant in forming her legal defense in the murder trial of Ruth.
  • Marie: Ruth’s boss at Mercy-West Haven Hospital.
  • Adele: Brit’s mother.

Critical Reception

The book has received positive and mixed reviews.[6][7][8] Eleanor Brown of The Washington Post wrote that "'Small Great Things' is the most important novel Jodi Picoult has ever written. Frank, uncomfortably introspective and right on the day’s headlines, it will challenge her readers", although she felt that the book is "overly long, with a meandering middle, a tendency toward melodrama and a rushed ending that feels glib."[9] Roxane Gay of New York Times thought Turk the white supremacist character well-written, however found the black character Ruth least believable: "The more we see of Ruth and her family, the more their characterization feels like black-people bingo — as if Picoult is working through a checklist of issues in an attempt to say everything about race in one book." She found now it a "flawed novel" but felt "generous" toward the book and gave her "a lot of credit for trying, and for supporting her attempt with rigorous research, good intentions and an awareness of her fallibility". She wrote: "The novel is messy, but so is our racial climate."[10]

References

  1. ↑ "A quote by Martin Luther King Jr". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  2. ↑ Clark, Alex (23 December 2016). "Jodi Picoult: 'Trump supporters need my book'". the Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  3. ↑ McNary, Dave (30 January 2017). "Viola Davis, Julia Roberts to Star in Drama 'Small Great Things'". Variety. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  4. ↑ "Small Great Things Movie (Development): Feb. 1, 2017 - added drama as a genre - Movie Insider". Movie Insider. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "SMALL GREAT THINGS by Jodi Picoult | Kirkus Reviews". Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  6. ↑ "Jodi Picoult - Small Great Things - Book Review". BookPage.com. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  7. ↑ "Small Great Things | Bookreporter.com". Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  8. ↑ "Jodi Picoult "Small Great Things"- book review". litcritpop. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  9. ↑ Brown, Eleanor (October 13, 2016). "Small Great Things is the most important novel Jodi Picoult has ever written". The Washington Post.
  10. ↑ Gay, Roxane (11 October 2016). "Jodi Picoult's New Novel Reviewed by Roxane Gay". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  • Jodi Picoult onstage.
  • Jodi Picoult website.
  • Reading Group Guides.
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