Such a Fun Age

Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made her living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So, she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store’s security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is curious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.

Such a Fun Age offers so much to think about, and lots to discuss. Every scene and every bit of dialogue felt carefully crafted and molded.

Reid does a superb job of exploring the “white savior” attitude without making her characters one dimensional. She is thorough in her portrayal of well-meaning white people and their tendency to overstep, doing more harm than good, when trying to “help” or “protect”.

As I read this story, I didn’t feel like I was immersed in the lives of the characters. It was like I was looking in through a window and watching everything unfold, and this may have been how Reid wanted the reader to feel. After all, in real life we tend to think we know everything about those close to us, but the reality is that we may just be given a glimpse into their real lives...Not to mention how distorted the “glass” is that we are looking through.

The ending felt a bit rushed and didn’t flow as strongly as the rest of the novel.

Overall the novel succeeds at doing what was set forth from the beginning with brilliance and spunk. I really enjoyed this story and I recommend this book.

Have you met someone who oversteps while helping a person to the point of making the other person helpless?