Hana Ng

To start off, it was prohibited to have interracial children in South Africa under apartheid. So for Trevor, born to an African mother and a Swiss father,  his existence was simply illegal. Born a crime is a memoir of an unlawful kid growing up under one of the most oppressive and racist regimes in the world, not only did he survive  but also thrived to become a success and an inspiration for many others.  Just looking at a title and the topic, one would easily assume a story full of despairing tragedies, dreadful anecdotes and gruesome historical circumstances that Trevor has had to endure. Yet readers will be surprised at his portrayal of the hardship in such a candid and heartfelt way throughout, filled with humour and insightful retrospect of a veteran, entwined with innocence and mischief of childhood. You will find yourself infuriated, laughing, intrigued, and tearing up at times. You will find pockets of joy and tales of resilience from normal people living in spite of adversity, refused to be hardened by life. Reading the book made me learn a great deal about things I've known. One of the lesser discussed theme of the book is Trevor's upbringing. I too was brought up by a strong independent rebellious woman. So I can tell with certainty that the book, to any child raised by a single mother, immediately felt like a tribute to the power of motherhood in steering a child's life trajectory, from the big life choices to the small every day nudges. Yes his mother was far from perfect. She was defiant, she made bad marriage decisions, she scolded at him and hit him often, though always out of love. But she also taught him the love of reading, provided him a decent education, shaped his character, showed him to never lose faith and never ceased to attempt at giving her family a better life. The audio version is gracefully narrated by the author himself, highly recommended for all types of readers.