Such a Fun Age

Such a Fun Age (2019) is a debut novel from Kiley Reid, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons (an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC). The novel quickly garnered critical acclaim, including a NY Times Bestseller spot, and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award in 2020.

Plot Summary

Though it starts with Emira’s perspective, Such a Fun Age alternates almost evenly between Emira Tucker and Alix Chamberlain as it moves in a primarily chronological order of events. The two main characters are in direct tension with each other: Emira is in her mid-20s, black, and has little idea what she wants to do with her life, while Alix is in her 30s, is white, and has an established family life and career.

In the opening chapter, Emira, who babysits Alix’s older daughter, two-year-old Briar, gets accused of kidnapping the young child when she takes her to the grocery store late at night for an emergency. After this incident, everything about Emira and Alix’s relationship changes. In addition, the white man who films Emira’s interaction with the security guard, Kelley Copeland, becomes Emira’s boyfriend after they run into each other on the train later that week.

Emira continues to struggle financially and wrestle with whether she should keep babysitting Briar as she develops more of a relationship with Kelley. Meanwhile, Alix begins to obsess over Emira, planning each detail of her life around whether or not it will make Emira like her more. Things come to a head when Emira and Kelley, both with cancelled flights due to snow, attend Thanksgiving at the Chamberlain house. Kelley’s past relationship with Alix, which happened in high school, becomes the center of a large conflict over the meal, with Alix panicking. The novel explains Kelley’s dislike for Alix: In high school, she was wealthy and privileged and was the reason that one of his closest friends, who was black, lost his scholarship after an arrest.

After the horrible Thanksgiving meal, Emira and Kelley have an argument that seems to mend their relationship, while Alix tries to figure out how to get Emira back on her side. Alix surreptitiously hacks Emira’s email to find the video from Market Depot and leaks it to the press; when Emira’s friends figure it out, they believe it is Kelley who has released the video. Emira and Kelley break up while Alix makes a desperate ploy to keep Emira by offering her a full-time nannying job as well as a TV interview to clear up things over the video.

Emira is preparing for the interview at the Chamberlain house. When Zara, her best friend who is there for support, overhears Alix talking about releasing the video, she immediately tells Emira and they problem solve quickly. Within minutes, Emira has secured a full-time job with the Green Party, where she has been working part-time as a typist. Emira goes on live television and declines Alix’s offer to be a nanny, following this up with the same line that Kelley used to break up with Alix in high school. As the cameras stop rolling, Emira briefly says a tender goodbye to Briar before Alix accosts Emira. With grace, Emira suggests that Alix be a better parent to Briar and leaves the Chamberlain household for good.

The conclusion of the novel shows Emira in a better position overall: She secures fulltime employment as an administrative assistant to a supportive, kind, direct boss, and she does not speak to Kelley or Alix again, though she does wonder about Briar often.