To Jodi Picoult for her inspiring novel 'Small Great Things'

This was my first Jodi Picoult, and Jodi, I was simply floored by the power of your story. It couldn’t have been written any better. By taking different POV of all the main characters you’ve covered everyone’s perspective, which is essential for an issue no one wants to acknowledge it exists. That you’ve done from a neutral standpoint. Had it been only from Ruth’s viewpoint, the biggest plus point of viewing the problem from many angles would have been lost. Kudos to you for narrating from multiple POV.

Even if you had not said it in the acknowledgements section, the amount of research gone into it was glaring. You’ve presented the medical, legal, and court scenes realistically. I could have easily bet you were either a lawyer or a medic.

Most of all, you have handled the theme of racism in a new light. It is not merely that Blacks are discriminated against (that we know and many books have dealt with it), it is the unique approach that though many whites seriously do not support racism, they still would like to benefit from it. Your birthday analogy must have brought home that point. BTW, I am neither black nor white, I am Indian (brown), and have no experience of the issue from either side, but I can tell you here in Indian as in most places, there is a preference for fair skin.

I was wondering why it should be taboo in the courtrooms to bring out race in an argument, when the root cause of a crime may be just that. Anyway, I hope your novel changes that unspoken bias in courtrooms.

Jodi, the ending was quite unpredictable for me. Who could have thought Ruth would insist on speaking her mind knowing it would jeopardize her own case? Or Kennedy would take the issue of racism head-on despite it being a professional no-no? Or Odette would acknowledge the Ruth’s stance? Or Turk would have a change of heart? There were many such twists and turns. Edison complicated everything by his vandalism, Brittany turned out to be half black. All I could guess and hope for was Ruth would be vindicated, which mercifully happened.

You are a phenomenon in storytelling, I tell you. You took a real life incident and twisted it with drama and suspense to evoke a social cause. Some say the book is slow; I say it is meant to be. After all, I have picked up ‘Small Great Things’ and not an action thriller. Five cheers!