Such a Fun Age is a stouthearted story about race and privilege. When I began reading this book, I found it arid and dull but as I moved ahead, the last few chapters, I have to say, peaked my interest and stunned me at the same time. One might miss the irony of how the white characters reinforce racism even when they seem to oppose it and that will make the heart of the reader wrench a bit with every move of the antagonist.
Set around a young black babysitter, Emira Tucker, whose sole purpose is to find a real job amidst all the chaos and her well-intentioned employer, Alix Chamberlain. Alix is a bit of a control-freak, she gets what she wants. She 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, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket.
The store’s security guard, upon 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. Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.
But Chloe Benjamin says it right, “This is not a world of easy answers but a one in which intentions don’t match actions and expectations don’t match consequences, where it is possible to mean something partly good and do something mostly bad. And the result is both unsparing and compassionate.”
Well, I can’t agree more.
This book, enlightened me, made me laugh and uncomfortable — all at once, but what I really appreciate about it was the way the characters are projected in it. And they sure are going to impress to you too. With this entertaining novel, Reid subverts our notions of what it means to write about race and class in America, not to mention what it means to write about love.
