Small Great Things is a fictional novel by Jodi Picoult. It is the opening title of Ruth Jefferson’s novel series. Jodi is an amazing author who has so far written 24 novels in her literary career. Out of these 24 novels, the last 8 novels became #1 bestseller in the New York Times. If two of her best novels are to be named then Small Great Things and Nineteen Minutes would make a very safe and easy choice.
The audio narration of Small Great Things is done by Audra McDonald, Ari Fliakos, and Cassandra Campbell. It was a really good choice of characters which made this audiobook so pleasing to hear.
Ruth Jefferson was working as a delivery nurse in a Connecticut hospital where she had more than 20 years of work experience. Ruth one day started with her routine checkup of a newborn but was told after a few minutes that she had to leave that newborn and look at another patient. It was because the parents of that newborn were white and they don’t want a Black African American to touch their child. The hospital agreed with their request. The very next day, the same newborn baby faced cardiac distress while Ruth was there in the nursery alone. So, what could have gone wrong there?
Ruth hesitated for a moment before giving CPR and was charged as a result of that with a very serious crime. Her case was taken by a white public defender, Kennedy McQuarrie. He provided Ruth with unexpected advice and that was about not using racism issues in court. Ruth tried her best to keep her life simple, especially for the sake of her teenage son but the case no time became a huge media sensation. That was the time when Ruth and Kennedy should look to gain trust between them and should see that what they all have been taught about the lives of others and even about themselves could be wrong.
The storyline of Small Great Things is beautiful and very much relevant today. All of the narrators of the book are stellar and you will find it hard to get this story out of your head.