The relationship had ended badly with Alix being presented as racist during her time in school.
Things come to a head when we learn that Emira’s current white boyfriend Kelley had been Alix’s first love. This leads to Emira being accused of kidnapping Briar and thus unleashes an unexpected chain of events during which the reader can reflect upon and challenge aspects of all the key players’ motivations and beliefs. They are not necessarily quite all they seem and one evening they call Emira and ask her to take Briar to the mall following a disturbance in their own home. She has a firm affection for Briar, the toddler for whom she cares, Briar is the daughter of seemingly successful and woke Peter and Alix. Working as a babysitter she feels left behind, earns little, but knows she is great at her job. Regarding the plot: in brief, the main protagonist Emira is a black twenty something graduate, living in Philadelphia who is moderately disenchanted with her life. Interestingly, Kiley Reid actually refers to raising awareness about racism in our current society within the story itself. When reading Such a Fun Age, however, I was questioning my own responses as someone experiencing ‘white privilege’ and trying to be reflective of this as I read from the perspectives of the key characters. Normally I would simply immerse myself in a text and respond to it naturally and with confidence in my views regarding character, theme and plot.
As such it is a fascinating read.Ĭontext is significant in Such a Fun Age and at a time when the ‘Black Lives Matters’ campaign is making readers like myself question our own self-awareness regarding white privilege, I found myself being quite self-conscious as I read along. In Such a Fun Age the issues of what it means to be racist, who is and isn’t racist, why and how this might manifest itself is tied up in an exploration of messy real life.
I wasn’t disappointed and hope this reaches the Booker prize shortlist. The story Such a Fun Age lived up to its promise. In addition, the positive comments from both the Times “A new literary star” and the Guardian “A firecracker debut” added to its appeal. Jojo Moyes’ comment “I couldn’t put this down” promoted its accessibility. As a rule I wouldn’t comment on a book cover, but the sleeve of Such a Fun Age really pulled me in.
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