by Kiley Reid.
Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2020
Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month for January 2021
Shortlisted for the British Book Awards Debut Book of the Year 2021
Charting the relationship of a black babysitter with her employer from the white liberal elite, Reid’s layered and razor-sharp debut holds a mirror up to race, privilege and gender in twenty-first century America.
When Emira is apprehended at a supermarket for 'kidnapping' the white child she's actually babysitting, it sets off an explosive chain of events.
Her employer Alix, a feminist blogger with a 'personal brand' and the best of intentions, resolves to make things right. But Emira herself is aimless, broke and wary of Alix's desire to help.
When she meets someone from Alix's past, the two women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know - about themselves, each other, and the messy dynamics of privilege.
This is the calling card of a virtuoso talent. I had thought of ending this review by predicting that Kiley Reid may be the next Sally Rooney. But Such a Fun Age is so fresh and essential that I predict instead that next year we'll be anxiously awaiting the next Kiley Reid' - Guardian