Small Great Things: A Novel

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars | 96,530 ratings

Price: 1.99

Last update: 01-05-2025


About this item

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning page-turner with richly layered characters and a gripping moral dilemma that will lead readers to question everything they know about privilege, power, and race

Look for Jodi Picoult’s new novel, By Any Other Name, available now!

“[Picoult] offers a thought-provoking examination of racism in America today, both overt and subtle. Her many readers will find much to discuss in the pages of this topical, moving book.”—Booklist (starred review)

Ruth 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 she’s been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don’t want Ruth, who is African American, 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 Kennedy’s 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 other’s trust, and come to see that what they’ve been taught their whole lives about others—and themselves—might be wrong.

With incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion—and doesn’t offer easy answers. Small Great Things is a remarkable achievement from a writer at the top of her game.

Praise for Small Great Things

“Small Great Things is the most important novel Jodi Picoult has ever written. . . . It will challenge her readers . . . [and] expand our cultural conversation about race and prejudice.”—The Washington Post

“A novel that puts its finger on the very pulse of the nation that we live in today . . . a fantastic read from beginning to end, as can always be expected from Picoult, this novel maintains a steady, page-turning pace that makes it hard for readers to put down.”—San Francisco Book Review

Top reviews from the United States

  • Kristin B.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Jodi Picoult is at the Top of Her Game!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2016
    About 12 years ago, I was introduced to Jodi Picoult's novels and, once I started reading them, I couldn't stop! I purchased all of her novels that were published at the time and quickly devoured them because I felt they were some of the most well-written, amazing books I had ever read. I remember giving many of my family members her books as gifts and they ended up enjoying them as well. A couple years after I started reading her books, I had one of the most exciting days of my life at the time when I met Jodi Picoult in person! I was pretty much hyperventilating when I met her and I loved listening to her talk about her books. I met her a couple other times after that and would actually skip going with everyone to sporting events just so I could hear her talk. Now, many years later, I have many of her books signed and I've read and loved all of her books, some more than others. I've found as she has grown as an author, her books become more thoughtful, her characters more complex, and the storylines told from multiple characters are woven together so well that, by the end of the novel, my jaw is hanging on the ground.

    "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way."

    The above quotation by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the inspiration for the title of this novel and I feel it is very appropriate given the subject matter and story within the pages of this novel. "Small Great Things" is the story of Ruth Jefferson, a veteran labor and delivery nurse at a hospital in New Haven, Connecticut. Ruth worked hard to get to where she is and her boss and coworkers consider her to be the best and most knowledgeable nurse on staff. One day she is performing her job when she is told she is no longer able to provide care for a newborn because the parents are white supremacists and she is African American. The next day, the baby goes into cardiac arrest when she is alone with him in the nursery. Within just a few moments, she wrestles over if she should follow her boss's orders or fulfill her duty as a nurse to help care for the newborn.

    As always with Jodi Picoult's novels, "Small Great Things" is told from multiple viewpoints which help make this an extremely complex and deeply-layered novel. This novel is told from three viewpoints: Ruth, Turke Bauer, the white supremacist father, and Kennedy McQuarrie, a public defender who has never taken a case like this. These protagonists, as well as the supporting characters, are portrayed as individuals whom anyone could see out in public and they are all very well-developed. We see them as they go about their everyday business both at work and at home, as they experience highs and lows, and as they are confronted with one another. As a former English Literature major, I love analyzing novels and "Small Great Things" was great to do just that and I enjoyed seeing the brilliant character development and the thought processes within these three main characters.

    In summary, I loved this novel and had a hard time putting it down. Many of the chapters end in cliffhangers and I simply couldn't stop reading! Jodi Picoult is a wonderful storyteller and one of my favorite authors. I've enjoyed all of her books, some more than others, and I would rate "Small Great Things" up there as one of my favorites. I feel she tackles the topic of race well and paints beautiful portraits of all the individuals involved. This novel has been a work-in-progress for Jodi Picoult for about two decades as she put extensive research into it and wanted to make sure she portrayed her characters as accurately as possible. If you decide to read this novel, which I very highly recommend, I suggest reading the Author's Note at the end because she describes the development of this novel. Jodi Picoult's novels are always extremely well-researched, intelligently-written, and very thought-provoking and "Small Great Things" is an amazing work of fiction that deserves to be read.
  • carilynp
    5.0 out of 5 stars Jodi Picoult’s SMALL GREAT THINGS. This book is so riveting as it ...
    Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2016
    Gripping. Powerful. A story that needs to be told. From two different perspectives. One that is almost unbearable to read. Actually, both are very difficult to read, but in different ways. One character's life makes you think not only of her outlook but forces you to truly take an introspective look. From another's viewpoint as well as how you look at the world. While you are reading it, it is hard to imagine that it was written by a white, female author. Jodi Picoult’s SMALL GREAT THINGS. This book is so riveting as it strikes a chord. Given the state of race relations in our country, the story is all the more haunting. To say that the issue of racial inequality has actually taken a turn for the worse, would be an understatement. The disparity in everyday life. I found myself doubting things that I have said, whom I may have inadvertently hurt or offended with no malicious intent. Reading this book made me sick to my stomach. But, I read on. It is important. Picoult is trying to get a message across. Please don't misunderstand, I was enthralled by the book. The story is passionate, intense, and portrays a deep struggle, which you want to read.

    I imagine some people will be doubters. How could the author possibly understand this situation, even if she is writing fiction. I have read interviews about the depth of research that she put into this book. She is not claiming to be an expert. She based it on a true story. The title comes from a line in a famous speech of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s: If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”

    The story is about a nurse, no ordinary nurse, but one who is dedicated and well regarded, with a twenty-year career at the hospital where ‘the incident’ occurs. A husband and wife have just had their first baby. When the nurse comes into their room, to take over the shift of another labor and delivery nurse, upon seeing her, the parents, who are white supremacists, see that she is black and immediately request to see her supervisor, whom they tell, in no uncertain terms, that this woman is not to touch their baby. What unfolds next is a devastating. Both of their lives take a turn neither could have predicted. The story is told from both sides. Heartbreak from the nurse’s and mistrust of everyone she encounters. She has noticed this before or rather, has worked hard to rise above it, but now it is all surfacing and cannot be ignored. The extremely racist man is angered to the point of revenge and his wife is shattered and taken to bed and depression.

    ​Some books make you think. Some books turn you to a fantasy world. Some books make you step outside of yourself and think how others feel. SMALL GREAT THINGS makes you think, step outside of yourself, take another's perspective, and re-think your beliefs, and step outside of the fantasy world you have been living in, where all people are treated equally. It is both disturbing, heartbreaking and enlightening.

    ​I commend Picoult for taking on the writing of a potentially controversial subject and for tackling it with a story that has great depth and feeling.

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