On this surface this is a legal thriller. Did Ruth Jefferson murder, through negligence or malice, a newborn under her care? Naturally, since this is a book by Jodi Picoult, things are not straightforward. Ruth is an African-American nurse and the baby is the son of White Supremacists who asked (read: demanded) that she not touch their son. Ruth’s orders from her supervisor were not to touch that baby. But when that baby stops breathing, and Ruth is the only nurse on the floor, what is she to do? And does she make the right choice -- legally and ethically?
The story is told in alternating chapters by three characters: Ruth, the accused African-American nurse; her white attorney and public defender Kennedy; and Turk, the baby’s father. If your skin is white you, like me, will probably cringe a bit reading this book and not just the sections told by Turk about how he came to join, and run, a White Supremacist website. This book brings you face to face with racism in all its degrees and makes you walk in the shoes of Ruth and her family. An eye opening, thought provoking book that like all of Picoult’s books has a twist at the end, but unlike most of her books it ends on a high note that makes you feel that things truly can get better.
Read by three different readers, one for each narrator, this is one not to be missed on audiobook.
