Such a Fun Age

What a brilliant read! So well written and with characters that appear fully formed from the outset, ‘Such a Fun Age’ is the perfect family-centred novel for our times. Focusing on the fraught-with-difficulties relationship between the parent and child carer, Kiley Reid also explores race, self-conscious liberalism and economic hardship as she tells the story of Emira, her employee Alix and their daughter Briar.
Alix is an anxious person. Successful in her own right, she is still desperate for approval. Like many in this social media conscious age, she is forever wondering what her lifestyle choices look like to all around her. Is she liberal enough for her friends? Do they approve of her parenting choices? Can she even remember who she really is deep down? Kiley Reid contrasts her with babysitter Emira who wishes that race didn’t have to be such an overriding issue in her relationship with Alix. She neither needs not asks for Alix’s friendship, finding the latter’s courting of her perplexing and, at times, irritating. Whilst Emira is a great babysitter who genuinely cares for Briar, sadly that doesn’t appear to be Alix’s main concern.
This novel challenges us to think seriously about our own attitudes to race and class. It is an important read whilst also being extremely funny in part. Kiley Reid shows us clearly just how tediously self-referential white middle class liberalism can be. I loved Emira’s response both to her employer’s overtures and to the liberties that Alix takes. And what brave decisions she takes in the novel’s final pages. You go, girl!
My thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

This book has been seriously hyped, and going in I was unsure of what to expect beyond an examination of the relationship between a young black woman and her affluent white employer. Fortunately Such a Fun Age is so much more than that.

Kiley Reid's novel kicks off with Emira, a 25-year-old black woman who works part-time as a babysitter for Alix Chamberlain's daughter Briar embarking on a late night visit to a supermarket Emira is involved in an altercation with a security guard who believes she has kidnapped Briar. While Emira is a little shaken by the incident and looking to shrug it off Alix is outraged and wants to put things right. The incident is captured on video by a young (white) man who soon becomes a key part of the narrative too.

Emira is like many young women these days - muddling through her mid-20s without a whole lot of direction, feeling like her friends are all more successful and in a better place in life than she is. She is soon to turn 26 and therefore will no longer be covered by her parents health insurance, so is desperately looking for a job with this benefit (side note: I had no idea how much of a serious issue this was in America..). This search proves unsuccessful, and due to the nature of Alix's job (as an inspirational speaker) she needs Emira to work more hours, but she also wants to be Emira's friend and help her better herself. This is where things become problematic but thought-provoking: Alix is a typical "white saviour". You know the kind - she has black friends so how can she be racist, right?! This differs from other books of this ilk, however, as we have a highly developed African American protagonist who we view Alix's actions through, and the consequences of these actions and how this causes Emira to reassess her job.

This topic, along with the issues brought up around it (such as the transactional relationship of a nanny) for a stimulating topic to base a novel around. I would just add that despite the complex themes this is SO readable and I found it hard to put down. Recommended!

Such a Fun Age is a brilliant examination of white privilege, race and class in modern America. Emira is a black nanny, doing a number of part-time jobs to make ends meet. She ends up being a pawn in between her employer Alix, and her boyfriend Kelley. Both are competing to be more woke than the other, and neither are at all.
Emira gets a late evening call to take two year old Briar to the grocery store. Whilst there, she is, predicably, accused of kidnapping the child. The incident is filmed, and becomes a cause for both Alix and Kelley, who have a long standing grudge with each other.
Alix is a blogger, and tries to leverage Emira's misfortune into an opportunity for herself. Alix also thinks she is helping Emira, but is ridiculously deluded. Kelley thinks he is such a good guy for dating a black woman, and is hard to see who is worse.
Emira is caught between the two, and must decide what is the least worst course of action. A terrific read.

Oh this was good!! Utterly compelling, yet insightful, political, powerful and an perfectly perceptive novel for our times.
Elmira is a babysitter for the Chamberlains. One evening, called away from a party to help them out in a crisis, she is stopped with her toddler charge by a security guard in a grocery store. Setting off a series of events dealing with race, class, privilege and more this is a really well written novel that has wide commercial appeal. Loved it.

An incredible book. Any producer with sense would option it for Netflix or HBO. I look forward to hearing more from this author.

I absolutely loved this book and will be recommending it to everyone. Very early on, Emira is called late at night by the family she works for part-time as a babysitter, and is asked to take their 3 year old out of the house because the police are dealing with an incident. She takes her to a store, but is stopped by security and accused of kidnapping the toddler, as a black woman looking after a white child. This is the driving point of the novel, which follows the change in mother-babysitter dynamic and explores issues of class and racism, and white privilege in modern america. Whilst these are all complex issues, It deals with them in an extremely accessible way.

The characterisation is spot on, and the relationships feel authentic, despite being difficult. Emira is directionless in her mid-twenties, feeling like her friends are all succeeding and growing around her (very relatable), whilst she has the added pressure of finding a job with health insurance by the time she turns 26 (when she can no longer be covered by her parents). Carrying such a weight on her shoulders, she's desperate to forget the 'incident' in the shop, as it's just something else to deal with,, but the toddler's mother, Alix can't let it go.

Alix's desperation to connect with Emira is brilliantly cringey, and despite her often making the wrong decisions, I still sympathised with her. She's also at a strange time in her life - she has two young children, is living in a new area with no friends, is trying to stay at the top of her career AND be a good mother. The latter is something Emira takes issue with - she feels like Alix overlooks Briar, her funny, clever three year old, who Emira thinks is the best thing ever. Emira and Briar's relationship is such a delight, and stole the show for me. Kiley gets it just right.

Overall this ticked all the boxes for me - brilliant writing, a compelling storyline and characters you can't forget about. I honestly could not put this book down and would say it's one of my favourites so far this year.

Wow!! I really didn't have any expectations about this book and I was totally blown away. What a great read! I loved everything about it; it's a brilliant story that kept me on the edge of my seat, plus it really opens up so many debates about race, status, wealth, class and education, all of which are covered in such an intelligent way. I fell in love with Emira and Briar, while the character of Alix was so complicated that it kept me guessing right until the last page. I loved how well all the stories intersected together, it was so brilliantly written. One of my favourite books of the year.

A brilliant debut that is so very layered with a richness of commentary on the day to day lives of the main characters but also about power, privilege, code-switching, family, dating, parenting and so much more. It was only about half way through that I started to really appreciate the depth that the story was bringing, analysing the interactions between Emira, her boss,her friends, her boyfriend and most of all the utterly bewitching Briar.
So clever and an addictive read. Different sides of Emira emerged and I loved her character. It reminds me of the authenticity and on point social commentary in Little Fires Everywhere, it is such a thought provoking read