Tag: what’s in a name

#BookReview Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

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Small Great ThingsAbout 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

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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

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jodi-picoult-photo-2020About 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.

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#BookReview Liar by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, trans. by Sondra Silverston

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LiarAbout the Book

Nofar is just an average teenage girl – so average, she’s almost invisible. Serving customers ice cream all summer long, she is desperate for some kind of escape. One afternoon, a terrible lie slips from her tongue. And suddenly everyone wants to talk to her: the press, her schoolmates, and the boy upstairs – the only one who knows the truth.

Then Nofar meets Raymonde, an elderly woman whose best friend has just died. Raymonde keeps her friend alive the only way she knows how – by inhabiting her stories. But soon, Raymonde’s lies take on a life of their own.

Format: Paperback (288 pages)        Publisher: Pushkin Press
Publication date: 28th March 2019 Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction, Literature in Translation

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My Review

I alternated between reading the paperback edition published by Pushkin Press and listening to the Audible Studios audiobook narrated by Ajjaz Awad.

The author is clearly fond of similes; in fact, so fond that waiting for them at the end of a sentence became somewhat distracting at times. Depending on your point of view, the examples that follow are imaginative, laboured or simply perplexing.

‘She shrank like a caterpillar on its back’
‘Nofar’s guilt, like a Persian cat, rubbed her legs fleetingly, sat for a brief moment on her lap, then moved onward.’
‘Smiles have a way of catching a person’s eye, like a red balloon gliding in the sky and drawing the glances of people below.’
‘Her thoughts, like pizza-delivery boys on their motorcycles, reached the most remote streets.’
‘Love is a very delicate thing, the truth can trample it like a hippopotamus running wild.’
‘The words were like a can of petrol thrown on the small ball of fire in her stomach.’
‘Her face was red and swollen, but to Lavi she looked like a wonderful grapefruit.’

I wasn’t entirely convinced by the introduction of a secondary storyline and a new character, Raymonde, in part two of the book. Although consistent with the theme of the book – that lies take on a life of their own and are difficult to take back – I struggled with the nature and context of her deception. It was more deliberate and studied than Nofar’s spur-of-the-moment outburst. I suppose it could be argued that, in sharing the stories of her dead friend, Raymonde was at least ensuring they would be heard.

I also found it hard to identify with the characters in the book or become engaged in the central relationship between Nofar and Lavi, which seemed a little on the creepy side to me. Although never stated, the book is  set in Tel Aviv but I didn’t get a particularly strong sense of place; much of the action is confined to Nofar’s family’s apartment or the dingy alley beside the ice cream parlour where she works. The exception was a night time scene in which Nofar looks out over the city from the roof of the family’s apartment.

I felt the novel worked best as an exploration of lies and their consequences. Pretty much all the characters in the book lie in one way or another. Some are motivated by a desire for attention or sympathy, others to show off or to make believe they’re living a different, more exciting life. Their lies range from the ‘white lie’ to out-and-out deceit or, as in Nofar’s case, to false accusation. The book also demonstrates the way lies can take on a life of their own, make the teller vulnerable to manipulation and unwittingly compromise the integrity of others.

In three words: Thought-provoking, intimate, discursive

Try something similar: Belladonna by Anbara Salam

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About the Author

USE-THIS_ayelet_gundar©alon_siga-copyAyelet Gundar-Goshen is an award-winning novelist, and a clinical psychologist based in Israel. Her novels One Night, Markovitch and Waking Lions, both published by Pushkin Press, have been translated into 14 languages.

She is an occasional correspondent for the BBC, TIME magazine and Israeli media. (Photo credit: Publisher author page)

About the Translator

Sondra Silverston has lived in Israel since 1970. Her translations include fiction by contemporary Israeli authors Amos Oz, Eshkol Nevo, Savyon Liebrecht, Aharon Megged, and Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, as well as the fiction and essays of Etgar Keret.