Welcome to my second quarantine book review! At this point in quarantine, I should probably be finishing up my fifth or sixth book, but some old habits (cough procrastination) never die.
Initially, I was supposed to write this book review on Celeste Ng's "Everything I Never Told You", which is the second book I finished while at home, but to be honest, that book didn't nearly hit me as hard as Jodi Picoult's "Small Great Things." Don't get me wrong, I think Celeste Ng is a good writer and her focus on Asian American identity is such an important topic that's often overlooked in popular contemporary books, though "Small Great Things" dives even deeper into the themes of race and prejudice in America. While reading this book, I literally could not put it down because of how suspenseful and thought provoking each chapter was. Okay, that's enough of me gushing over how much I loved this book. Instead, I'm going to go over the myriad of reasons as of why you should also love this book.
"Small Great Things" is such a complex and challenging read, and not because it's written in fancy jargon or littered with difficult SAT words that are barely ever used in everyday conversation like many of the books I have read in my lifetime. Instead, Picoult's book focuses on an uncomfortable topic that, often times, we purposely overlook: racism. In simplest terms, this book is about race and prejudice through two very different lenses: African Americans and white Americans. The main character, Ruth Jefferson, is a middle-aged African American woman who worked hard towards graduating Yale School of Nursing and becoming a well renowned labor and delivery nurse in an affluent and predominantly caucasian Connecticut town. She identifies with her black identify proudly because she was able to overcome racial and economic barriers through her own hard work and success. Even though she doesn't feel like a racial minority in the hospital, it's made clear to her that she's different once she encounters a couple who refuses to work with Ruth because of the color of her skin. Brittany and Turk Bauer are white supremacists who choose to deliver their newborn baby, Davis, at the same hospital Ruth works at, not knowing that she is the only black labor and delivery nurse working in the entire building. The Bauer's refuse to let Ruth touch their baby despite the fact that she has over 20 years of nursing experience, and tells Ruth's advisor that no African-American staff are to care for Davis. Obviously, Ruth is shocked by this blatant act of racism from not only the couple, but also her own advisor who she saw as a close friend. Things quickly go awry when one of Ruth's coworkers, who was supposed to be taking care of Davis, is called into an emergency C-section and tells Ruth to watch over Davis because she is the only available nurse on the floor. When Ruth enters the forbidden room, she notices that Davis isn't breathing and immediately tries to wake him up despite the fact that she is technically not allowed to touch the baby. Ultimately, Ruth is met with the impossible decision: risking her job to save this baby or listening to the couple's request and risking the baby's life.
When Ruth hesitates to perform CPR on the baby, she is charged with the serious crime of negligence and homicide by the Bauer couple, who hope to avenge their son's death by painting Ruth as an angry black woman who purposely murdered Davis because she didn't agree with their radical beliefs. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, decides to take Ruth's case, but warns Ruth that they cannot discuss the topic of race in the courtroom or else they won't win. Again, Ruth is confronted with a difficult decision of ignoring her own skin color or championing for what she believes is right. To make things worse, Ruth's nursing license is suspended due to the case and she must work even harder to keep her family afloat, especially her teenage son Edison, who is a straight-A student and college bound.
I could honestly write paragraphs upon paragraphs just about the plot because of how complicated it is, but I don't want to give away any spoilers! The plot twists make this book impossible to put down without the turns being too unrealistic or melodramatic.
So as you can probably tell by now, this book is a rollercoaster of emotions and each drop is more suspenseful than the next. I absolutely love how Picoult wrote the book from the viewpoint of not only Ruth, but also Turk Bauer (those were the most difficult chapters to read) and Kennedy. These contrasting voices really make you think about how flawed we are as humans, especially when it comes to microagressions and other subtle racist thought processes. "Small Great Things" is a novel that will undoubtedly challenge your viewpoints, but that's exactly what we need to ignite change in the world — now more than ever.
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