Such A Fun Age Summary
Note that this summary contains spoilers
The plot revolves around Emira, a young black babysitter working for a privileged blogger turned entrepreneur, Alix Chamberlain, and her husband who is a news anchor. At the beginning of the novel, Emira takes the toddler she babysits to the local upscale supermarket. Seeing a white kid with a black girl immediately piques the curiosity (and racism!) of the security guard, who accuses Emira of kidnapping the child. A stand-off ensues which is captured on film by a curious bystander and which eventually becomes a viral clip online. This sets in motion a series of events that will have long-term consequences for both Emira and Alix. The narration is shrewd yet caustically funny which ensures that while the writing makes you ponder how rampant casual racism is, it never gets preachy. Alix is a social media mogul who has her fingers on the pulse of everything that is on trend. However, her carefully curated persona conceals her deep-rooted biases and nagging insecurities. Reid gives us a peek behind the filtered life of a savvy blogger who seemingly has a picture perfect life. While problematic race relations form the crux of the plot, other key themes of the story are new motherhood and female friendships. Such A Fun Age addresses these issues with nuanced insight. Emira’s character will resonate with woman of color who are in their mid-20s yet have not found their feet in their chosen career. Watching her friends around her get promoted and prosper in their professional fields makes Emira feel inadequate. Meanwhile, being a new mom has impacted Alix’s relationship dynamics with her close friends. When her husband makes an off-color racist remark while on-air, a mortified Alix tries to make amends by making friendly overtures to her black babysitter. Alix overcompensates by inserting herself forcefully into Emira’s life, a plan which eventually backfires after a chance coincidence reveals a surprising connection between Alix and Emira’s lives. Exuberant narration and astute commentary on timely topics makes Such A Fun Age a compulsively readable novel.
Such A Fun Age Book Club Questions
Find even more general book club questions here.
Such A Fun Age: Further Reading
Since this is a debut, we will have to wait a bit longer to read more of Kiley Reid’s works (although hopefully not too long!). Meanwhile, if you are interested in reading equally engaging novels about complex race relations or transactional relationships between mothers and babysitters/nannies, add the following books to your TBR piles:
Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani Devotion by Madeline Stevens
