Such a Fun Age

Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and heartwarming narrative about race and privilege, centred on a young black babysitter, her well-meaning employer, and an unexpected connection that threatens to destroy them both. It is a beautiful and startling first book from an exciting new voice.

With her self-assured brand, Alix Chamberlain has created a career out of getting what she wants and teaches other women how to do the same. She is thus taken aback when Emira Tucker, her babysitter, is approached one evening while babysitting the Chamberlains' child while perusing the aisles of their upscale neighbourhood supermarket. The security officer at the shop suspects Emira of kidnapping Briar, age two, after seeing a young black lady and her white child out late. A passerby records everything, a small crowd forms, and Emira is left feeling degraded and enraged. Alix is determined to put things right.

But Emira is poor, aimless, and suspicious of Alix's willingness to provide a hand. She doesn't know what to do with her life and is about to lose her health insurance at the age of twenty-five. Both women find themselves on a collision course that will challenge everything they believe to be true about themselves and one other when the video of Emira uncovers someone from Alix's past.

Such a Fun Age deftly addresses the sticky nature of transactional relationships, the definition of family, and the complex realities of growing up while delivering incisive social criticism and empathy. It's a blistering start for the modern day.