Not many of us were familiar with Jodi Picoult, and so we were looking forward to reading and discussing a relatively new author. Perhaps we started at the top of the Picoult canon because it was a very good read and a timely one given the current climate in the country.
This book follows a black labor and delivery nurse Ruth Jefferson who is not allowed to care for a white baby by his white supremacist parents. She is shocked and hurt by the hospital's acquiescence, understandably.
Through a quick series of unlikely events, when the baby stops breathing, Ruth is the only person in the room and she is charged with his death. From then on, her life and that of her teenage son deviate drastically from the responsible, respectable path they were on, with only further trouble on the horizon.
The crisis opens Ruth's eyes to the racism all around her that she tried very hard to ignore, egged on by her sister and the painful reaction of her son whose reaction threatens to derail his own life. The easy way Ruth's hospital employer deflects blame to her and the reactions of her coworkers were hard to bear. Perhaps because they seemed so familiar.
Interestingly, the story included the backstory of the white supremacists, Turk and Brittany whose own struggles which led them to strong, if reprehensible beliefs. They have lost a newborn son and blame is natural enough when not stoked with hate. Yet, their story is sympathetic enough in its telling to keep the reader from dismissing them altogether.
And that perhaps is the problem with it all, as we discussed it. Initially, the characters were a bit too stereotypical, the story predictable and the ending too pat. But we all read it and enjoyed it and maybe some of us will read Jodi Picoult again.
As for next month, Rene Massey has volunteered to host, thank you! We are reading Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout, of Olive Kitteridge fame. Our meeting is on November 14, see you all then!
