I may be one of the few, but I had never seen Trevor Noah before the Livingston Manor Library Book Club chose to read his memoir, Born A Crime. A very successful stand-up comedian and former host of “The Daily Show,” the author recounts his years of growing up in South Africa under apartheid and then after its fall. Son of a white Swiss-German father and a black Xhosa mother, Noah was what was classified by the South African government as “colored,” which meant of mixed race.

The book, which is a series of essays, recalls growing up being too dark to be accepted by the whites and too light to be accepted by the blacks. His mother, a highly religious Catholic, had deliberately chosen to have a “colored” child which she thought would be better than being black in South Africa. The choice gave Trevor a number of advantages, but it also forced him to grow up never able to have any close friends.

Born a Crime, in addition to being a memoir, is a love letter to the author’s mother. Born into extreme poverty, she was shuttled off to relatives to work on farms for a small pittance which barely kept her in clothes and provided only minimal food. Obviously strong-willed, she learned to read and write, and then acquired the secretarial skills to advance. A devout Catholic, she filled her days with religion, and attending church would also become a major part of young Noah’s life.

Despite the fact that it had been a crime in South Africa long before apartheid, finding a white man to father her child was something Noah’s mother deliberately chose to do. Throughout his young life she continued to make dangerous choices in order to give her son advantages.

At times funny, but always revealing, Born a Crime is a dark reminder of brutal times in South Africa’s history, and a thank you from a grateful son to his mother.

The LML Book Club holds its meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at the library. This book is available at the library, along with many other current volumes. Call 845-439-5440 to learn more.