Small Great Things: A Novel

ISBN: 0345544951

Author: Picoult, Jodi

Condition: New

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In the most important novel Jodi Picoult has ever written (The Washington Post), the acclaimed author tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion-and doesnt offer easy answers.A gripping courtroom drama . . . Given the current political climate it is quite prescient and worthwhile. . . . This is a writer who understands her characters inside and out.-Roxane Gay, The New York Times Book ReviewRuth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a Connecticut hospital with more than twenty years experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that shes been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and dont want Ruth, who is Black, to touch their child. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. Does she obey orders or does she intervene?Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedys counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible for her family-especially her teenage son-as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each others trust, and come to see that what theyve been taught their whole lives about others-and themselves-might be wrong.

• With richly layered characters and a gripping moral dilemma that will lead readers to question everything they know about privilege, power, and race, Small Great Things is the stunning new page-turner from Jodi Picoult.