Small Great Things was no different. But unlike many of her other books, this one was so incredibly thought provoking and one that will stick with me a long time. It made me rethink my views on race in America, something I will continue to ponder over. Prior to reading the book, I thought I knew how I felt. Now I'm not so sure.
The story centers on Ruth, a black nurse in a Connecticut hospital, who is forbidden to care for a newborn baby, Davis. Davis, named after Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, is the son of white supremacists, Turk and Brittany. When Ruth is conveniently the only medical staff person around when Davis starts seizing, stops breathing and dies, she becomes the easy target to blame for Davis' death. Ruth gets arrested, her public defender is Kennedy, the character in the story that I most related to. Like me, Kennedy thought she knew how she felt about races and racism. Like me, Kennedy had to rethink a whole lot of things. Things like white privilege. I knew it was there... but never really thought about it much, just because, well, it was...
The character that I found most fascinating was Turk. He was the window to learn about different groups of white racists. It was unsettling for the most part but it made me understand that the different groups feel differently about the races and their ways of making things right (in their) worlds can be quite different. I don't know that the differences will really stick with me but the quality of the hate and the anger, that will remain with me a long time. It also gave me insight into some of the racial tensions that I see brewing around me. A usual history and current events lesson all rolled into one.
Picoult weaves real life race issues into the novel. There are references to Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and several others. She even has a fictionalized version of Reverend Al Sharpton.
Some reviewers of Small Great Things found Ruth and her sister, Adisa (previously known as Rachel) as the least believable characters of the novel. They comment that Ruth and Adisa are caricatures of the groups they are meant to represent. I'm not 100% sure about that. Yes, Ruth goes on to get her graduate degree at Yale, to live in a nice neighborhood, to raise one son who is an all-star student in a good high school. Adisa lives in the projects with her five children, although we are reminded that they all had the same father.
Ruth and Rachel were the daughters of single mom, Lou, who worked as a domestic in the home of a wealthy family in Manhattan. They were raised in Harlem. (My one source of serious irritation with the novel was when someone asked Ruth if she was from Manhattan and she said, no, she was from Harlem. Is it my whiteness that has always made me think that Harlem was in Manhattan? Or did Picoult goof here?) Ruth showed academic giftedness at an early age and Lou's employers helped facilitate Ruth's entry and scholarship to be able to attend Dalton, a prestigious private school in good neighborhood. Rachel continued going to her local school up in Harlem. That's when the sisters begin to drift apart, inhabiting totally different worlds. Ruth becomes closer to Lou's employer's daughter, Christina, than she is to her own sister.
It's Ruth and Christina's relationship that really forces those two characters to think about their differences due to race. Quite interesting thoughts at that.
Another comment I saw in more than one review was that Picoult was clearly writing for a white audience when she wrote this book. She most probably was. But to me, a white woman, it didn't diminish the story or how thought provoking I found the novel.
If you're already a fan of Jodi Picoult, I predict that you are going to love this book. If you're not, you might pick apart the story and the characters, and you might really dislike the novel, but I bet you will start rethinking about your views on race and racism. It was an easy read, even with its heavy subject matter. I was able to finish it in two sittings (on my flight to New York and then finished on the flight home). I've read some good books in 2016, but this one, most likely the final book I'll finish this year, stands out as one of the best.
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