Born a Crime by Trevor Noah is hands-down one of the best memoirs I have read and listened to, probably only second to Michelle Obama's Becoming. I was recommended this book by a friend after talking about my studies and interest in Apartheid South Africa. Trevor Noah recounts his childhood in South Africa and all the complexities of race, segregation, poverty, and violence that accompanied living in South Africa.

He offers a funny, yet insightful look into the politics and culture of South Africa and what it meant to be born in an era when having a white father and a black mother made his birth a crime. He spoke about the difficulties of being neither white nor black, he didn't fit into one group but this gave meant he could be both privileged and alienate. He became a polyglot and learnt many languages: Xhosa, Afrikaans, Zulu and English, Sotho, Tswana, Tsonga and German. It's clear that whilst Trevor Noah made light of many events in his childhood, like nearly being jumped because a group of black guys thought he was a white guy and being saved by his ability to speak their language, it is clear that South Africa was and remains a divided and difficult place to live. Noah highlights this through humour in an incredibly accessible and interesting way.

From listening to the memoir, it's clear that Trevor Noah is also exceptionally bright and observant. He cared deeply about his mother and has thought long and hard about his life to write this memoir. The relationship with his mum and his family was something I loved the most. The way he writes about his mum is wonderful as he talks about both the good and the bad, and it's clear he loved her very much. This is definitely where lots of the humour comes into the story as he imitates his mum. My favourite story was about the shit and the burning of his shit. This story made me laugh out loud and nearly cry from how ridiculous and funny. However, at the heart of the story again is a story about poverty, religion, culture and his family. It's really interesting and clever how Noah has crafted so many important topics into his humour.

In addition to showing how close he was to his mother, and how willing he was to sacrifice almost anything for her. He also highlighted one of the biggest problems in South Africa; domestic violence. His mother was shot by his step-father, and beaten and up until the point she was shot the police had done nothing to condemn his step-father's actions. Rape and violence against women is currently an endemic issue in South Africa and Noah's memoir highlighted only one case of how these issues remain untreated and undealt with. It has become so bad that vigilante justice has taken over in some communities to burn the rapists as the police will not take action (this is something Trevor doesn't talk about - but something that is important to know).

This memoir was incredibly funny, but also very moving. I loved Trevor talking about how he was a dorky and ugly teenager and it reminded me that even incredibly successful people were not necessarily loved in high school. This is probably going to be one of my favourite books of the year and I can't wait to go and find more Trevor Noah to watch and listen to. I would recommend this to everyone!