audiobook – Page 6 – What Cathy Read Next…

About the Book

When a newborn baby dies after a routine hospital procedure, there is no doubt about who will be held responsible: the nurse who had been banned from looking after him by his father.

What the nurse, her lawyer and the father of the child cannot know is how this death will irrevocably change all of their lives, in ways both expected and not.

Small Great Things is about prejudice and power; it is about that which divides and unites us. It is about opening your eyes.

Format: Hardcover (506 pages) Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Publication date: 22nd November 2016 Genre: Contemporary fiction

Find Small Great Things on Goodreads

Purchase links
Bookshop.org
Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

Small Great Things is the first book I’ve read by Jodi Picoult but it has made me understand why her novels are so popular. I was completely won over by the combination of compelling storytelling and exploration of serious issues, in this case racial discrimination. Although published back in 2016, the subject matter means it still feels incredibly timely.

Ruth’s treatment at the hands of the parents of the baby, the hospital where she is employed and the police is awful to witness, as are the consequences for her and her son, Edison. As a white person, I found I could identify with Kennedy, the public defender who becomes Ruth’s counsel. She prides herself on ‘not seeing colour’ but comes to realize that, not only does she fail to appreciate the extent of the racism faced by black people, but she has failed to recognize how she herself has benefited from the inbuilt bias towards white citizens in society. There’s a great scene where Kennedy accompanies Ruth to a shopping mall and witnesses first-hand what Ruth has to endure on a daily basis.

As a bit of a courtroom drama junkie, I particularly enjoyed the scenes depicting Ruth’s trial. I also liked seeing the lead up to the trial as Kennedy, with the help of her assistant Howard, searches out evidence that will help Ruth’s case. As it turns out, Kennedy’s keen eye spots what others have missed leading to dramatic scenes towards the end of the book. As a Brit, I’m always intrigued by the differences between the UK and US legal systems, such as the process of jury selection. I was surprised by the amount of time Kennedy and Howard spend profiling the potential jurors, including carrying out ‘fieldwork’ to identify those likely to be biased against Ruth.

Some may find the book’s ending just a little too neat and/or unrealistic. Personally, I loved the sense that right can prevail and that even hardened attitudes can be changed. In the case of the latter, the author’s extensive research included meeting former members of white power groups, including men whose lives had followed a similar path to Turk’s.

Although I own a hardcover copy of the book, I listened mainly to the audiobook version narrated by Noma Dumezweni, Jeff Harding and Jennifer Woodward. Because the book alternates between three points of view (Ruth, Turk and Kennedy) it lent itself to three different narrators. However, each of them had at times to narrate dialogue by the two other main characters, as well as that of secondary characters, both male and female. I thought they all did a great job. Noma Dumezweni brought real warmth to the voice of Ruth and Jennifer Woodward conveyed Kennedy’s professionalism and dedication. Whilst lending Turk a convincing air of menace and barely suppressed rage, I did feel Jeff Harding’s voice made Turk sound older than the twenty-five years the character is meant to be. However, that is a very minor quibble.

In her author’s note, Jodi Picoult tackles a question she asked herself when preparing to write the novel, namely what right did she have to write about an experience she had not lived? After all, as she admits, she grew up ‘white and class-privileged’. However, as she points out, if she’d only written about what she knew her career would have been ‘short and boring’. Why, she wonders, should writing about a person of colour be any different from writing about a person of another gender? She concludes, “Race is different. Racism is different. It’s fraught, and it’s hard to discuss, and so as a result we often don’t.”

I’m so glad Jodi did decide to tackle this topic in a novel because not only is Small Great Things a great story, it forces the reader to consider their own potential prejudices. I loved the book and, if there are any fans of Jodi Picoult out there, recommendations for which of her novels I should read next will be gratefully received.

In three words: Thought-provoking, truthful, compelling

Follow this blog via Bloglovin

About the Author

Jodi Picoult is the internationally bestselling author of twenty-four novels, including The Storyteller, House Rules, Nineteen Minutes and My Sister’s Keeper.

She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and children.

Connect with Jodi
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

About the Book

When a Victorian scientist propels himself into the year 802,701 AD, he is initially delighted to find that suffering has been replaced by beauty, contentment and peace.

Entranced at first by the Eloi, an elfin species descended from man, he soon realises that this beautiful people are simply remnants of a once-great culture – now weak and childishly afraid of the dark. But they have every reason to be afraid: in deep tunnels beneath their paradise lurks another race descended from humanity – the sinister Morlocks.

And when the scientist’s time machine vanishes, it becomes clear he must search these tunnels, if he is ever to return to his own era.

Format: Audiobook (3h 22m) Publisher: Ladbroke Audio
Publication date: 6th February 2017 [1895] Genre: Classics, Science Fiction

Purchase links*
Audible UK| Hive
*links provided for convenience not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

The Time Machine is a story I realised I knew mainly from the 1960 film version starring Rod Taylor. I was interested, therefore, to see how much of the original book made it through the adaptation process. The answer is a surprising amount.

Although in the book the lead character is never named but instead referred to throughout as ‘the Time Traveller’, in both versions he gives an account of his experiences to a group of (mostly disbelieving) friends gathered for a weekly dinner. He describes how, far from the utopia hoped for, in the time period to which he travelled humankind has evolved into two distinct races: the degenerate, underground-dwelling Morlocks; and the indolent, rather childlike, surface-dwelling Eloi.

In the film there is no discussion about how the change in society might have come about but in the book the Time Traveller gives a lot of thought to the cause of such a marked stratification of society. His initial theory positions the Eloi as the superior, aristocratic race given they live a life of leisure, engaging in no work to feed or clothe themselves. The Morlocks on the other hand are the workers toiling beneath the surface. This probably reflects Wells’s own socialist views and life experiences. It was common at the end of the 19th century for workers to live ‘below stairs’ or work in basements and the idea of the ‘haves’ exploiting the ‘have nots’ easily transfer to the book.

However, the Time Traveller becomes perplexed and a little frustrated by the passivity and lack of curiosity of the Eloi. In his view, humanity cannot make progress or innovate without struggle. In addition, the Eloi seem to have little care for one another or any fear of danger – until nightfall, that is. The reason for the latter gradually becomes apparent and eventually the awful truth of the relationship between the two races is revealed.

In the book, the Eloi are described as short, pale, and elfin-like whereas in the film they are blonde and beautiful. The Weena of the book, the only member of the Eloi who engages with the Time Traveller, is definitely not the glamorous character played by Yvette Mimieux in the film. In fact, the Time Traveller’s relationship with the childlike Weena in the book felt a little uncomfortable. The Morlocks in the book are albino and spider-like and I found the scenes in which they appear much scarier than I remember from watching the film.

Events towards the end of The Time Machine mean it is left to the reader to imagine what direction – past or future – the Time Traveller’s adventures will take him and when, or if, he might return to his own time. In the film, it seems fairly obvious.

There are aspects of The Time Machine that now seem distinctly prophetic. For example, the Time Traveller notes the temperature in the future is much higher than in his own century. When he ventures even further ahead in time, what he sees is a vision of a dying Sun and apocalyptic climate change. (The film version sees the Time Traveller witnessing events in the much more immediate future.)

It’s amazing to think how many of the concepts associated with time travel in modern fiction and film are owed to The Time Machine, a book written in 1895. It’s a testament to the fertile imagination of H.G. Wells.

The audiobook version I listened to was narrated by John Banks who did a good job throughout but especially in communicating the Time Traveller’s sense of fear in some of the more dramatic scenes.

In three words: Inventive, thought-provoking, chilling

Try something similar: The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

Follow this blog via Bloglovin

About the Author

Herbert George Wells was a novelist, teacher, historian and journalist, who has become known as the “father of science fiction.” His works have been adapted countless times, and provided the basis for many literary and theatrical productions.

About the Narrator

John Banks is one of the UK’s most prolific audiobook narrators, working for the likes of Big Finish, Audible, Random House and Games Workshop. He is a true multi-voice, creating everything from monsters to marauding aliens. He is also an accomplished stage and TV actor.

Tag: audiobook

#BookReview Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult