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From the publisher:

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A REESE’S BOOK CLUB x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK PICK

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, 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 furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things 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,” and the complicated reality of being a grown up. It is a searing debut for our times.

This debut novel came roaring out of the gate and hit the NY Times bestseller list at #3, shocking for a first novel. It also made pretty much every “must-read for January” list and the reviews have been exceptional. When a book gets that much hype, it automatically moves to the top of my to-be-read list, and I get a little anxious – it seems rare for a book to live up to such high expectations. But this book certainly met my expectations, even exceeded them. And the Iowa Writers’ Workshop hatches another amazing writer.

The basis of the plot is not a new story. A young black woman, Emira, helps out her employer by taking Briar, their precocious toddler, to the grocery store late one night as the white parents need to deal with a police matter at home.  Briar and Emira are having fun when a white woman summons the security guard. They are suspicious and basically, kidnapping assumptions are made. A young man is nearby and films the transaction, which isn’t resolved until Emira calls Briar’s father to come explain who she is and why she has Briar.

Reid took this oh-too-familiar story and turned it on its head by making the babysitter the protagonist. While the story shifts viewpoints from time to time, there is never any doubt that this is Emira’s tale to tell. And that change in perspective means everything.

Emira is a struggling 25-year-old. She’s not sure what she wants to do in life and she’s just floating along, barely making ends meet with two jobs, as a babysitter and as a typist for the Green Party office in Philadelphia. She still has a lot of growing up to do, but she has reached the point in her life where at least she realizes that. Being dropped from her parents’ health insurance is right around the corner. Her friends are getting promotions and working in jobs they love. Emira isn’t quite there yet, although she knows she loved Briar and that she is a good babysitter, she realizes she needs more than that.

Briar’s mom, Alix, has an interesting backstory that is slowly revealed as we get to know her. Then Alix invites Emira to bring her boyfriend and come for Thanksgiving dinner. Alix’s friends from NYC will be there, lots of people, kids, food, but that is where everything in the story comes to a head.

Several twists in this story really make it move, so it is a quick read. But more importantly, it is a thought-provoking read. Themes of racism and class are diffused through the book, with cringe-worthy moments and some humor as well. This is a book that will stay with me for a while, there is a lot to think about. An excellent debut worthy of all the praise that has been heaped upon it. I’m just piling on here.

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From the publisher:

A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

From the New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth and State of Wonder, comes Ann Patchett’s most powerful novel to date: a richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are.

At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves.

The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.

Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.

At the heart of this novel is the bond between siblings, something I have witnessed, but never experienced. I think what is a bit unusual is that the siblings are a brother and sister. I have read tons of books about sisters, and some about brothers. I’m sure there are other books that emphasize the brother-sister relationship, but nothing springs to mind, while this book will linger for a very long time.

Danny is dating Celeste. It has become serious, they’ve been together for a few years. He introduces his sister to her,, and at first, Celester and Maeve become fast friends. But when Celeste gives Danny a wedding ultimatum as he completes his first year of med school, he declines and they break up, causing a rift between Maeve and Celeste. When Danny and Celeste eventually marry, she is often resentful of his relationship with his sister. Frankly, I think many women will be able to understand that. I’ve always believed that a married couple needs to put each other first, above everyone else, so I thought I would struggle a bit with this. But I liked Maeve so much more than Celeste that I was surprisingly fine with it.

As you can probably tell from my own inner monologue here, there is a lot to discuss in this book. I haven’t even touched on the Dutch House itself. That is no metaphor, it is the name of the house where Danny and Maeve grew up, and it plays a significant role in the story. Actually, I’ll retract that, it is a metaphor for a few things, now that I think about it.

The Dutch House is, at its heart, a dysfunctional family story, yet in Patchett’s hands, it is so much more. I swear, Patchett could write a grocery list and make it sound beautiful. Her prose is sparse and sensitive; her characters well-drawn, including the house. A wonderful read to savor, perhaps over the upcoming holiday?

Oh, just as an added bonus, Tom Hanks reads the audiobook. Makes me want to give it a listen now!