Review: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah is a notoriously witty comedian whose international success has led South Africans to claim him as a figurehead; a hero. However, his position in South Africa was not always as clear cut. For most of his youth, Trevor Noah was an outsider – different. A mixed raced child born to a Xhosa mother and Swiss father in the height of Apartheid, he often felt that he was never quite white enough, nor black enough, to fit in.

Born a Crime is more than a coming of age story or memoir – it’s an explanation of how circumstances can shape us, and how the world is so much more than what lies beyond our front door. In telling the story of his youth, Noah places a concept as large and foreign as Apartheid into relatable terms, a vital point of reference for today’s youth. Despite the immense setbacks that challenged his family financially, socially and economically, Noah is adamant that his life was no exception to a rule, that his circumstances were no better or worse than hundreds of other families. Born a Crime is an explanation of Noah’s history beautifully crafted in a background of South Africa’s history. This book should be recommended reading for all high school students; it is sharp, poignant, honest, and highly entertaining and thought-provoking.

This book was not something I would usually pick up to read, but I am incredibly glad I did. I have gained respect for a man I have never met, and for a generation of people that has won the right to share their stories through damn hard work, determination, and dreaming big. Noah’s book and the experiences recounted within it make you feel as though despite a climate that can be fueled by racial and political divisions, love for family and respect for others will always be cemented into our various cultures.

Despite his name on the cover, however, I cannot help but feel that Born a Crime is actually an ode to a powerful woman. Apart from marveling at Noah’s maturity, integrity and honesty (including in his retellings of crime and accidental arson), after finishing Noah’s book I was filled with a longing to meet his mother. The mother from his childhood is vibrant, strong, determined and hard-working. She is fearless, smart and loving, and shaped his life and his outlook with such love and care that she could be a role model to any South African, but particularly to the women of our country.

Thank you, Trevor Noah, for telling your story and that of your family with such style and insight, and thank you Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, for inspiring him to do it.

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah is published by Pan Macmillan South Africa.