Small Great Things

by Jodi Picoult
August 20-Sept 16, 2017

Just a quickie drive-by review since I finished this book three weeks ago and just haven't had time to write a review. I typically am not a fan of Picoult's work; I find her storytelling to be a bit scattered and overzealous. But there's no doubt that she is a wildly popular author, and after some pretty intense "encouragement" to read the latest, I added Small Great Things to my list.

This book is uncomfortable right from the start. It is not easy to read about white supremacy. And for me, it was not easy to read about a black nurse from the first person clearly written by a white woman. Is that offensive to anyone else? Either way, the topic is current and relevant, and for this, I applaud the author. But, with quotes from white characters like, "I don't see color," the book instantly becomes cliché. The plot development was decent until in typical Picoult fashion, it became soapy. That's when I remembered why I avoid her books.

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