Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. Courtesy Penguin Random House
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. Courtesy Penguin Random House

Book review: Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult is a commendable effort



When international bestselling author Jodi Picoult began work on Small Great Things, she could not possibly have predicted quite how timely her novel about racism and prejudice in the United States would be.

After all, she started writing it in the mid-1990s, but could not find the right voice at that time. As she admits in the author’s note: “I couldn’t do justice to the topic, somehow. I didn’t know what it was like to grow up black in this country.”

It took a 2012 news article about an African-American nurse who helped to deliver a child born to white-supremacist parents – and was, incredibly, told not to touch the baby – for Picoult to return to the subject. She did a lot of research into race and, goodness, does it show. This is definitely Picoult’s “Important Novel on Big Issues”.

Small Great Things is also the writer to a T, however: an accessible, page-turning author at the top of her heart-rending game.

Spinning out from the real-life case, midwife Ruth has to intervene when the baby of racist couple Turk and Brittany develops breathing difficulties – and ends up facing criminal charges when medical procedures do not go to plan.

Cue the kind of courtroom drama Picoult revels in. Ruth’s public defender, Kennedy, is the author’s concerns writ-large: a well-intentioned middle-class white woman completely secure in her family unit, blissfully unaware that her privilege makes her prejudiced.

Small Great Things doesn't really deal in nuance, but the chapters written from the perspectives of Ruth, Kennedy and Turk explore and explain their motivations rather than simply making villains or victims out of the characters. It is a device that really works.

In fact, Small Great Things plays out like an extended version of the TV series Law and Order – although the hit US legal drama would never countenance the book's ridiculous plot twist. The novel concludes with characters (and readers) very much having been on a "journey", but the final means to get to this moment of reckoning is awful.

So no, it is not quite the "21st Century To Kill a Mockingbird" that the novel's publicity would have you believe it is. It is not even the best novel on race and prejudice in America this year – that accolade goes to Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad.

Still, Jodi Picoult knows that a 50-year old white woman can never pretend to chronicle the black experience like White-head can.

Instead, her novel is a commendable effort that asks her mainly white audience to think just a little more deeply about their prejudices in the febrile political and social atmosphere of the US, and beyond, in 2016.

artslife@thenational.ae

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The Byblos iftar in numbers

29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month

50 staff members required to prepare an iftar

200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly

160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total

500 litres of soup is served during the holy month

200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes

350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes

5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
 

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

Specs

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Company info

Company name: Entrupy 

Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist

Based: New York, New York

Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.  

Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius. 

Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place. 

FA CUP FINAL

Manchester City 6
(D Silva 26', Sterling 38', 81', 87', De Bruyne 61', Jesus 68')

Watford 0

Man of the match: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

Suggested picnic spots

Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
 
Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes 

The biog

Name: Shamsa Hassan Safar

Nationality: Emirati

Education: Degree in emergency medical services at Higher Colleges of Technology

Favourite book: Between two hearts- Arabic novels

Favourite music: Mohammed Abdu and modern Arabic songs

Favourite way to spend time off: Family visits and spending time with friends

Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458. 

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The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK 

Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV

The biog

Favourite colour: Brown

Favourite Movie: Resident Evil

Hobbies: Painting, Cooking, Imitating Voices

Favourite food: Pizza

Trivia: Was the voice of three characters in the Emirati animation, Shaabiyat Al Cartoon

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills