Small Great Things, Jodi Picoult, Ballantine Books, 2016, 458 pp
Every time I read a Jodi Picoult novel, I vow never to read her again. Several of The Bookie Babes, one of my reading groups, like her books and that is how I came to break my vow. I must admit she did not annoy me as much this time, the more surprising because I also have a gripe about white people who write books about African Americans.
Ruth Jefferson, a 20 year veteran of nursing women through labor and delivery at a small Connecticut hospital, gets thrown under the bus by that hospital after an infant death. Ruth is an African American who has, through opportunity and hard work, made a good life for herself and her son. The infant's parents are white supremacists who have requested that no African American personnel touch their baby.
After a series of unfortunate events during a double shift, Ruth loses her job and finds herself on trial for murder. Her lawyer is a female, white public defender. The prosecuting attorney is a female, African American and just right now I cannot remember how the white supremacist parents ended up with a Black lawyer. That was improbable number one in the book for me and a typical Picoult move.
We get the back stories of Ruth the nurse and of the parents of the dead baby. We also learn about the public defender's personal life. Twists and turns, plenty of Picoult style info dumping from her research and a somewhat sketchy finale to the murder trial fill in the other trademarks of this author.
I will allow that Jodi Picoult is a skilled writer of page-turning, issue-filled novels. Easy to read, compelling, just juicy enough, with a good grasp of American life in our times. I also decided, with some help from Roxane Gay's review in the New York Times, that a white author has probably got a better chance of reaching a white readership who might never read James Baldwin or even Toni Morrison and other excellent writers of color. So that is a good thing; another pathway for white people to find out what it is like to be Black in America.
(Small Great Things is currently available in paperback at Once Upon A Time Bookstore.)
Most of the book blogs I visit are always raving about Jodi Picoult novels, but I've tried to read several and I've never enjoyed them. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't love them.
ReplyDeleteTruly, you are not the only one Angela!
DeleteI read Lone Wolf and I thought it was meh, but I LOVED Leaving Time, which is a huge departure from her usual style. I have My Sister's Keeper on mount TBR. So far my experience is 50-50, and I'm not crazy about the duality/ambivalence of her stories; I prefer an author that sticks to his/her guns even if his/her readers don't agree with his/her views. I think it is a more honest approach. That said, I like her writing style so I'm going to give her one or two more chances before I decide what to do about her, which is more than I give other authors, to be honest. :-)
ReplyDeleteWell there you have it. I have read Second Glance and The Pact before this one. That is enough chances for me and you can let me know what you decide.
DeleteHappy Mother's Day, Judy! :-)
DeleteThank you!
DeleteThis is the only Picoult book I've ever read. I read it because I was curious, having seen so many positive reviews about it. I do give her props for tackling such a difficult subject. I think she had her primary audience (white women) in mind and earnestly wished to give them a perspective that they might not have considered. But I think it is unlikely that I will be reading more of her books.
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding your assessment to the conversation here Dorothy. So far, we are all pretty much in consensus.
DeleteI have stayed away from the Picoult canon, so to speak. I'm sure it's fine page-turning stuff but there's other fish to fry that are perhaps more in my ballpark. hmm. no good reason I'm sure
ReplyDeleteYou have not missed anything important. The books you review are all better.
DeleteHmm, I've read a couple of Picoult's short stories. One I enjoyed, but the other one was, meh. I've thought about reading one of her novels, but have never gotten around to reading one... Maybe I won't after reading your review!
ReplyDeleteYou know, you can find tons of better books to read. I promise you.
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