Download SUCH A FUN AGE and more Exercises Voice in PDF only on Docsity!
Reading Group Guide
SUCH A FUN AGE
KILEY REID
IN BRIEF
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 between them that threatens to undo them both.
IN DETAIL
Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her young black babysitter, Emira Tucker, is accused by a security guard of kidnapping the Chamberlains’ toddler at the supermarket one night. 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. 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.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Kiley Reid is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was awarded the Truman Capote Fellowship. Her short stories have been featured and are forthcoming in Ploughshares , December , New South and Lumina. Before becoming a writer, she worked as a babysitter for six years.
FURTHER READING
Queenie – Candice Carty Williams Normal People – Sally Rooney Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng Ordinary People – Diana Evans The Farm – Joanne Ramos An American Marriage – Tayari Jones Girl, Woman, Other – Bernardine Evaristo The Sellout – Paul Beatty Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge
‘So good! So witty, so apposite to basically EVERYTHING going on right now, so touching
and humane, just utterly phenomenal’
Jessie Burton
QUESTIONS
- “Emira,” he said. “Don’t tell me she makes you wear a uniform.” “Well, she doesn’t make me do anything.” What does the novel have to say about the transactional nature of domestic work? Why do you think Emira and Kelley disagree on the significance of the polo shirt?
2. After the revelation at the Thanksgiving dinner, Kelley wants Emira to stop working for
Alix. Do you think there was a right way for Emira, Kelley and Alix to react to their
discovery? Is there always a right way to respond?
3. Over the course of the novel, we learn about events in Alix’s adolescence, including her
encounter with Kelley. How does Alix’s adolescence continue to shape her as an adult?
Why do you think she changed the spelling of her name from Alex to Alix?
4. Much of the plot is facilitated by technology and the hyper-connected nature of modern
society: Emira’s encounter at the supermarket was filmed and could be shared, and Alix
is able to leave New York and work remotely. Discuss the effect of modern technology
in the novel. Does it cause more problems than it solves?
5. How does Shaunie’s new job effect Emira’s concerns about her own career? Do you
think it is fair to say that Emira suffers from a lack of ambition? What other factors are
holding her back?
6. Emira continues to work for the Chamberlains through difficult circumstances, largely
because of her attachment to Briar. How does their relationship compare to Alix’s
relationship with Briar? Why do you think Briar means so much to Emira?
7. Towards the end of the novel, Alix tells Emira: “We’re so impressed with how you reacted
that evening, and so grateful that you came into our lives”. How does this square with Alix’s
treatment of Emira? What, if anything, have Alix and Emira learned from each other?
8. ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions’. Discuss this proverb in light of Alix’s
decision to share the video. Can her good intentions excuse the damage done? Do you
believe her intentions really were good?
9. White privilege is a recurrent theme in the novel, especially where it goes unrecognised.
Do you think fiction is a useful medium for raising awareness of this issue? In what ways
might fiction be more successful than non-fiction at starting thee conversations?
10. Such A Fun Age tackles very serious themes, and throws its characters into some
incredibly stressful moral dilemmas. In light of this, what do you make of the word ‘fun’
in the title?
confused at the sight of Emira that she even apologised for herself (“Sorry, hi. You’re so pretty! Come on in”) (162)
Tamra reached over and gently tugged the bottom of Emira’s braid. “So what’s up underneath here, huh? I’m guessing you’re afraid to go natural.” (164)
“Okay... that was another mistake. But if it makes a difference I’ve been there twice before, and I wouldn’t have taken you somewhere uncomfortable on purpose.” “Well, yeah, but that’s the point. You might think it’s comfortable because it’s always been that way for you.” (193-4)
“Emira, you’re so smart,” Alix went on, “and I know that you know what you want out of a relationship more than anyone else, and I also know that people can change. I just… I wouldn’t feel right not letting you know about my experience with Kelley, especially when I think the same issues may come up in yours” (217)
For possibly the first time, Emira felt truly judged by her friends. She didn’t doubt Kelley because, why should she? Instead, she felt her friends doubted her. And there were plenty of reasons to doubt her
- she was terrible with money and she’d never had a real job and her life was stuck in a postcollege mess – but Kelley was different. (243)
As Zara and Emira quietly jumped up and down, Emira suddenly realised that there would be a day, probably quite soon, when Briar would no longer remember her. (275)
But the reference and implication that yes, Emira and Kelley sat around laughing at new-money-trash Alex Murphy, that she was still a person that existed – it felt like the plot twist of a horror movie. (287)
Deep into her thirties, Emira would wrestle with what to take from her time at the Chamberlain house. Some days she carried the sweet relief that Briar would learn to become a self-sufficient person. And some days, Emira would carry the dread that if Briar ever struggled to find herself, she’d probably just hire someone to do it for her. (305)
