A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is
a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set
around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a
surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.
Alix
Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living,
with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the
same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted
while watching the Chamberlains' toddler one night, walking the aisles
of their local high-end supermarket. The store's security guard, seeing a
young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of
kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films
everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make
things right.
But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of
Alix's desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health
insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of
Emira unearths someone from Alix's past, both women find themselves on a
crash course that will upend everything they think they know about
themselves, and each other.
With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age
explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means
to make someone family, and the complicated reality of being a grown up.
It is a searing debut for our times.
