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Zara
Peter Chamberlain is Alix’s husband. He is a news anchor for a local Philadelphia station. Peter often expresses his support for Alix in her business pursuits—and it does seem that he genuinely believes in her and wants her to succeed. At the same time, though, it’s Peter who initiates the Chamberlains’ move from their crowded Manhattan apartment to a larger house in Philadelphia—a decision that isolates Alix from the friends and business acquaintances that motivate her and give her a sense of meaning. In addition, despite the fact that Peter is just as much his children’s parent as Alix, there’s hardly any mention of him doing child care of any kind. At the beginning of the novel, when Peter is still new to the Philadelphia station, he makes a careless joke that many viewers consider to have a racist and sexist connotation. As a result, some kids throw an egg through the Chamberlains’ front window, prompting the Chamberlains to call the police. This is the family emergency that compels Alix to call Emira to watch Briar, a decision that culminates in the Market Depot incident that sets in motion the novel’s central conflicts. Peter isn’t a huge presence in the book, but his character does illustrate how gender, in addition to class and race, plays a role in a person’s ability to succeed in life. As an example, Peter’s gaffe in the beginning of the novel is serious enough for people to vandalize the Chamberlains’ house—yet people almost immediately forget about or forgive him for his mistake, while the book’s female characters—and especially Black female characters—don’t have nearly as much freedom to mess up.
Peter Chamberlain Quotes in Such a Fun Age
The Such a Fun Age quotes below are all either spoken by Peter Chamberlain or refer to Peter Chamberlain. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4
Quotes
As she turned the bowl so that the ribbon faced forward, Alix remembered. Yes. Emira had asked if she could get Briar a fish for her birthday. She’d asked both Alix and Peter days ago. Alix hadn’t considered it would be a real one, because she hadn’t really been listening, but here it was, gold and wiggling.
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Chapter 9
Quotes
Whenever Alix was afraid that Emira was mad at her, she came back to the same line of thought: Oh God, did she finally see what Peter said on the news? No, she couldn’t have. She’s always like this, right? Emira came upstairs as Alix finished washing her hands.
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Chapter 21
Quotes
“I’m not finished.” Alix held up a flat hand in the air. “If you think I’m going to sit back while you try to look cool with someone who is like family to me, then you’re crazy.” Alix took a second to pause for effect. “If you’re still okay fetishizing black people like you did in high school, fine. Just don’t pull that shit with my sitter.”
Alix had started her day in Manhattan, ready to tell Kelley, I know who you really are. But now she sat in Philadelphia, participating in a losing game called “Which One of Us Is Actually More Racist?”
Chapter 23
Quotes
Tamra’s eyes went small in an exaggerated and confident expression. “Oh girl, yes,” she said. “One hundred percent. This is probably the best thing to ever happen to Emira.”
Chapter 25
Quotes
“Everybody wins with this,” Laney promised her. “Emira gets to clear her name. Peter’s little mix-up will be smoothed over. And you’ll get to come back into the spotlight a bit. And don’t worry, I know exactly how to plug your book without plugging your book. You know what I mean.”
Chapter 26
Quotes
“All of this was for you!” Mrs. Chamberlain cried. “We wanted to help you clear your name and you turn around and do this? Whatever Kelley said, I . . . Emira. Everything we’ve done was for you. Everything,” she said. Her focused stare seemed to say, I know you know what I did, and I also don’t care. “You might be too young to understand this right now, but we have always had your best interests at heart. Emira, we, we love you.” Mrs. Chamberlain threw her hands up in surrender as she said this, as if loving Emira was despite her family’s other best interests. “I don’t . . .” She shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”
Get the entire Such a Fun Age LitChart as a printable PDF.
Peter Chamberlain Quotes in Such a Fun Age
The Such a Fun Age quotes below are all either spoken by Peter Chamberlain or refer to Peter Chamberlain. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4
Quotes
As she turned the bowl so that the ribbon faced forward, Alix remembered. Yes. Emira had asked if she could get Briar a fish for her birthday. She’d asked both Alix and Peter days ago. Alix hadn’t considered it would be a real one, because she hadn’t really been listening, but here it was, gold and wiggling.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9
Quotes
Whenever Alix was afraid that Emira was mad at her, she came back to the same line of thought: Oh God, did she finally see what Peter said on the news? No, she couldn’t have. She’s always like this, right? Emira came upstairs as Alix finished washing her hands.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21
Quotes
“I’m not finished.” Alix held up a flat hand in the air. “If you think I’m going to sit back while you try to look cool with someone who is like family to me, then you’re crazy.” Alix took a second to pause for effect. “If you’re still okay fetishizing black people like you did in high school, fine. Just don’t pull that shit with my sitter.”
Alix had started her day in Manhattan, ready to tell Kelley, I know who you really are. But now she sat in Philadelphia, participating in a losing game called “Which One of Us Is Actually More Racist?”
Chapter 23
Quotes
Tamra’s eyes went small in an exaggerated and confident expression. “Oh girl, yes,” she said. “One hundred percent. This is probably the best thing to ever happen to Emira.”
Chapter 25
Quotes
“Everybody wins with this,” Laney promised her. “Emira gets to clear her name. Peter’s little mix-up will be smoothed over. And you’ll get to come back into the spotlight a bit. And don’t worry, I know exactly how to plug your book without plugging your book. You know what I mean.”
Chapter 26
Quotes
“All of this was for you!” Mrs. Chamberlain cried. “We wanted to help you clear your name and you turn around and do this? Whatever Kelley said, I . . . Emira. Everything we’ve done was for you. Everything,” she said. Her focused stare seemed to say, I know you know what I did, and I also don’t care. “You might be too young to understand this right now, but we have always had your best interests at heart. Emira, we, we love you.” Mrs. Chamberlain threw her hands up in surrender as she said this, as if loving Emira was despite her family’s other best interests. “I don’t . . .” She shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”
