'It's hard to exaggerate how well Picoult writes' Financial Times

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.

Raised the daughter of a black maid in a privileged white household, Ruth Jefferson is no stranger to prejudice - though as a respected senior nurse, she feels a world away from the inequality that defined her mother's life.

Kennedy McQuarrie is a lawyer who defends those who would otherwise be helpless, and would not consider herself a racist by any means.

When a white supremacist accuses Ruth of a crime that leads to the death of his new-born baby, and costs Ruth her job, Kennedy knows it is the kind of case she became a lawyer to win.

As the trial unfolds and the efforts to establish the truth about what happened in the hospital continue, all three - accused, accuser and defender - will be forced to confront much bigger truths: the truths they tell themselves about the world they live in, the values upon which they've raised their families and the beliefs around which they've lived their lives.

Never afraid to confront the moral dilemma of our times in the most human terms, SMALL GREAT THINGS is Jodi Picoult at her thought-provoking, life-affirming best.

[Picoult] offers a thought-provoking examination of racism in America today, both overt and subtle. Her many readers will find much to discuss in the pages of this topical, moving book.