Uh, congratulations on your debut novel

being a New York Times best seller.

-Seven weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. -Yeah.

-Thank you. Thanks. -That's amazing.

-(cheering and applause) -And...

And congratulations on creating a book

that's not just doing well,

but it's creating so much buzz in the right ways.

You know, you have fans that include Reese Witherspoon,

who's made it, like, her book club book of the month.

You've got, uh, Lena Waithe, who bought it...

You know, got... bought the film rights for the book,

-which is really fantastic. -Right.

Um, the book is an interesting one

because it opens with 25-year-old Emira,

who is this woman who works as a babysitter,

working for a white family who's very rich,

-and things basically go wrong. -Yeah.

Like, where-where do you even come up with a story like that?

Because it seems like a simple story.

It's like, "Oh, it's just gonna be babysitter world."

Then it's like, no, it turns into fake kidnapping

and then white privilege.

It's funny, but it's also deep at the same time.

-Right. -Where does that come from?

I think that in many ways, this is a really old story.

A black caregiver

and a white woman and a white child,

and their interactions are really precarious and charged.

And from the very first chapter,

Emira is accused of kidnapping this child,

and she's humiliated.

And I think that, like, what makes it different

is someone pulls out a cell phone.

And people's relationship to a racist incident

-becomes different when they see it firsthand. -Right.

Yeah, because you-you have this story

that many people can relate to on the surface, which is...

We see it all the time,

and we don't even think it's not normal,

which is black women raising white people's children.

-Right. But that's been going on for quite some time. -Exactly.

-Yeah. -From way back in time.

And-and you see the story.

But what's interesting in this one

is that Emira has a certain level of swag

that we wouldn't associate with somebody in this position.

Did you base that on your life in any way?

Oh, no, she's so much cooler than I am in every way. No.

I was a really good babysitter 'cause I was terrified

of hurting the child ever.

Emira's really good at babysitting, too,

but she doesn't know what she wants to do.

-Right. -She's 25.

She's coming to the end of her health insurance,

and she's really confused about where she wants to be,

but she loves this little girl,

and they have a really sweet relationship together.

But this incident changes everything.

Right. Now, I don't want to spoil what happens

later on in the book, but I will...

I will tell people what really is the catalyst,

in my opinion, in the story,

and that is you have Emira being in this place where

she's been accused of kidnapping this little white child.

Um, you also have an incident in the family

where there's-there's a racist incident with the husband.

-Right. -The family's under siege.

And then the woman who's in the house, Alix,

calls her and says, "Hey, Emira,

"I need you to come and look after my child

"while we're trying to work through

this whole racism thing."

And then she wants to be her friend.

-And that's really what the book is in and around. -Yeah.

I think so, too. Um, it's definitely--

I mean, that happens. You get a little crush on someone.

You think they seem really cool and interesting.

But that layer between them of "this is your employee,

and you have to respect her space,"

-and that's where things get tricky. -Why do you--

why do you think it-it becomes so tricky?

Because I-I think it's hard to explain to people.

And it's-it's a really wonderful book to read,

because it's so natural.

But how did you manage to capture how tricky it can be

for some people like Alix in this, who's a white woman,

who really seems well-intentioned

-and she-she wants to connect with this black woman -Right.

who works for her, she wants to be her friend

and yet doesn't realize all of, like, those tiny missteps

that are being interpreted completely differently

-from the black woman's side? -Exactly.

I think it's those missteps

that come from the really great intentions that she has.

And I think that a lot of white supremacy comes with a smile

and an unknowingness and then these really great intentions.

And Alix is constantly trying to superficially level

the playing field with her in saying,

"Oh, I-I got my shoes at Payless"

or "I spent, you know, nothing on this rug,"

as if she would get along with her because of those things.

But she's not realizing this girl's really struggling.

-And so that's where they miss each other. -Yeah.

Is-is there a reason you went with that for the story?

You know? I-It could have been a simpler story.

It could have been one that didn't com--

contain as much complexity,

-which would really get us into these conversations. -Right.

'Cause I've read reviews from everyone,

of every race, every-every walk of life, saying,

-"I see myself in the story in a different way." -Mm-hmm.

Is there a reason you went with this specific story?

It's probably because I love awkward moments.

I just can't get enough of them. And I watch people squirm.

And I-- When I read something that makes me have to put

a book back down, those are my absolute favorite moments.

And so it's-it's not fortunate for my characters,

-but that's what I love to read. Yeah. -Right.

How many people have asked to touch your hair?

-(laughter) -I mean...

I'm gonna say the limit does not exist.

-(laughs) -So many.

And it's all those little things that are so layered

-in history that I love writing about. -Right. Yes.

So, let me ask you this.

If someone's reading this book, and they go:

Kiley, I'm-I'm really trying, you know?

I'm a white person who's really trying.

I didn't even realize I'm-I'm...

these microaggressions are taking place.

I didn't even know that I'm offending people

in these moments-- I'm really trying.

When someone reads this book, what do you hope

that they would take from it that would give them

a greater understanding of what they're doing in the world

or how they're interacting with people of color?

Oh, and this-this does happen-- at every reading I have,

there's a white woman who's just finished reading it, and she's,

like, not ready to do this whole thing with me yet, and she's

like, "I don't know what you want me to do from this book."

Um, I think the biggest thing is the influence of the society

rather than the individual.

I feel that as soon as I start saying, "You're a bad person,"

I stop judging the systems that keep poor people poor

and give people permission to treat other people this way.

-Wow. -There's a really big racist incident

in the first chapter, where Emira is racially profiled,

but for the rest of the novel

she's struggling to get health insurance.

And that is something that has been a problem

for domestic labor workers since the 1930s,

and before that, as well.

And so I think covering these bigger issues

of systemic racism is way more important than, you know,

did I say the right thing in front of my cool babysitter?

It really is fascinating that you've done that,

because, you know, when reading through the book,

one thing that jumps out to me is,

you have this world where you've tackled in issue

that many people have commented on.

You know, I see it a lot online. People saying,

for instance, when there's a presidential debate

or when people are talking to politicians,

they make it seem like there are black issues

-Yeah. -and then there are issues for every other American,

when, in fact, black people have issues like anyone else can.

And in this book, you seem to highlight that.

It's one issue of race, and then there are just issues of life

that anyone can face.

-Oh, yeah. -Was that purposeful?

Oh, 100%. I think that talking about race

without talking about class is kind of a moot point.

And there's black women in the novel

who are wealthy and have really high respectability politics

and believe that Emira should want more for her life.

And then she has other black friends

who support her in everything she does.

And I think not including all of those differences

does a disservice to black women.

Well, I'll tell you this, you've written a book

that is funny, it's engaging, uh,

it is wonderfully awkward in many moments.

You don't want to put it down. You read it so quickly.

Um, this is not gonna be your first bestselling novel.

So thank you so much for being on the show.

Thank you so much for having me.

A really, really wonderful read.

Such a Fun Age is available now.

You definitely want to go out and get it.

Kiley Reid, everybody.