Book Review: Small Great Things
Having never read a Jodi Picoult book before, I was keen to start her latest release that is currently all the rage. She is an American writer and was awarded the New England Bookseller Award for fiction in 2003. Currently, 14 million copies of Picoult’s books are in print worldwide and have been translated into 34 languages.
Small Great Things is an outstandingly written novel, one like I’ve never read before. I haven’t come across many books that take me by surprise like this one did. It covers a range of relevant topics in today’s society regarding race, prejudice and love. It was an easy read although throughout there are certain words which one may find uncomfortable; although this is the case, I feel that it’s necessary in today’s society to make people aware of racism and to put an end to it.
You follow the story of a mother who, throughout her life, has felt like an outcast but strives for what she believes in. She gets by in life and creates a warm, welcoming environment in her home as well as being passionate about her job in the health industry. On the opposing side, you have a white supremacist denying a woman from doing her job and wants justice for his son, in which he feels the hospital didn’t accommodate to his nasty remarks. It shows how racism can destroy families and innocent people.
There’s a roller-coaster of emotions throughout the novel from rage to tears, you don’t know what you might feel after reading the last page. It certainly opens your eyes to see a perspective on American culture and how they deal with things that other cultures might not experience. It makes you realise that anything you do can make a huge impact on someone else’s life no matter how small the incident was.