Book Review - Born a Crime

THIS could be a memoir or it could be a diary. Whatever you want to call it, Born a Crime is highly entertaining.
Both amusing and witty, it is a collection of stories that tell a ­compelling tale of one man’s coming of age.
Trevor Noah was born from a black South African mother and a white Swiss/German father, during a time when such unions were deemed illegal and punishable by five years in prison.
Thus born a crime, Noah spent his early years ­hidden from sight, and when finally freed after the end of apartheid, he remained an outsider in many ­situations, yet managed to grow up into a balanced young man who is successful in his own right
These true accounts give you an insight into the racially restrictive laws of South Africa, during the twilight of apartheid and the ­tumultuous days of ­freedom that followed, while not forgetting to surround the whole ­affair with bursts of humour.
But most of all, I think, it is a ­celebration of Trevor Noah’s ­courageous, ­rebellious and fiercely religious mother, a woman who defied all odds to secure an education and a career for herself and her child.
She was determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that threatened her own life.
The woman is unorthodox, yes, but absolutely brilliant.
The end result is an absorbing, and totally inspiring read.