Sunday was our regular book club meeting day, and on this Sunday our discussion leader, Claudia, was in top form.  She tried her best and was generally successful in keeping our discussion on track after she introduced the book “Born a Crime” and gave an overview.

The memoir by Trevor Noah is a fun read that each book club member seemed to enjoy even though it was focused on apartheid-era South Africa. We’ve been reading some pretty heavy subjects lately and the nightly news is usually so depressing. 

Two of our members in the meeting have been to South Africa and shared their observations and experiences as we talked about Trevor’s recounts.  There were several of his stories that helped us collectively understand the impact of apartheid on daily life of a child and then a teenager.

Trevor was born to a black mother and a white (Swiss) father.  His mother is tough.  She’s tough minded and makes her own way in the world going against her family’s norms. She’s also tough on her son.  Many of his early childhood memories are about the church that his mother believed in and his challenges to it.

At the time Trevor is born it was a crime for whites and blacks to have intimate relationships.  We found it remarkable that Trevor and his mother were never “caught.”  If caught, Trevor explains one or both of his parents could have gone to prison.  Also remarkable was the fact that his mother made a deliberate choice to have a mixed race child. 

As a child, being mixed race meant Trevor could not publicly be acknowledged by his father.  It’s hard to understand how a child could be taught to walk on the opposite side of the street as his dad.  This circumstance also required that Trevor spent most of his early childhood inside.

He was inside until he went to visit with his mother’s family in the black community, Soweto.  Then, with his pale skin he was treated like a little king.  Still not allowed to go out and play much but always getting the best they had to offer.

Noah shares many funny stories about growing up and how his skin color played a part in how he was treated by blacks and whites. We spent most of our discussion time laughing about the hilarious and sometimes harrowing events.  Trevor was a bright child and skirted the law several times as a teen. He spent a lot of time hustling to make money.

Toward the end of the book we were all shocked by Trevor’s telling of his mother being shot by her black husband.  The telling leads you to believe she may not recover.  Miraculously she does, and all is well. Trevor goes on to become an international celebrity and finds his biological father who was absent during his adolescence. It’s heartwarming to learn that his father had followed his career and had the news clips to prove it.

“Born a Crime” is heartily endorsed by the BookClub Seattle.