My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Um…. It took me a while to get through this book. I started out with the physical book and then moved to audio, otherwise, I wouldn’t have finished it. I’m glad I got through it. I know it is not a book for me. I started reading it because of a book club I follow was reading it and gave it rave reviews, and as I’m trying to expand what I read I decided to try it. This book just wasn’t for me. I know I said that before, sorry. This book follows the lives of a young babysitter for a wealthy family. The mother of the children is struggling with life in a smaller town, and the babysitter is trying to figure out what she want’s to do with her life. Together their lives intertwine in the most strangest of ways. What follows is a story of life, love, heartache, and lessons learned. So read the summary and if it’s a book for you that’s great. Happy reading my friends.
Book Summary:
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 showing other women how to do the same. A mother to two small girls, she started out as a blogger and has quickly built herself into a confidence-driven brand. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night. Seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, a security guard at their local high-end supermarket 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 it 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,” the complicated reality of being a grown-up, and the consequences of doing the right thing for the wrong reason.
