SmallGreatThings

Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse with over twenty years of experience at a Connecticut hospital. During one of her shifts, she begins a routine checkup on a newborn but is quickly informed that she has been reassigned to a different patient. The reason? The parents of the child are white supremacists and do not want Ruth, an African American, to touch their baby. The hospital complies with their request.

作者简介

RuthJeffersonisalaboranddeliverynurseataConnecticuthospitalwithmorethantwentyyears’experience.Duringhershift,Ruthbeginsaroutinecheckuponanewborn,onlytobetoldafewminuteslaterthatshe’sbeenreassignedtoanotherpatient.Theparentsarewhitesupremacistsanddon’twantRuth,whoisAfricanAmerican,totouchtheirchild.Thehospitalcomplieswiththeirrequest,butthenextday,thebabygoesintocardiacdistresswhileRuthisaloneinthenursery.Doessheobeyordersordoessheintervene?RuthhesitatesbeforeperformingCPRand,asaresult,ischargedwithaseriouscrime.KennedyMcQuarrie,awhitepublicdefender,takeshercasebutgivesunexpectedadvice:Kennedyinsiststhatmentioningraceinthecourtroomisnotawinningstrategy.ConflictedbyKennedy’scounsel,Ruthtriestokeeplifeasnormalaspossibleforherfamily—especiallyherteenageson—asthecasebecomesamediasensation.Asthetrialmovesforward,RuthandKennedymustgaineachother’strust,andcometoseethatwhatthey’vebeentaughttheirwholelivesaboutothers—andthemselves—mightbewrong.Withincredibleempathy,intelligence,andcandor,JodiPicoulttacklesrace,privilege,prejudice,justice,andcompassion—anddoesn’toffereasyanswers.SmallGreatThingsisaremarkableachievementfromawriteratthetopofhergame.