Turan and Me: A Story of Boyhood in South Africa

The moving story of two boys, brought together by childhood magic in a world divided by race​.

A kaleidoscopic account of a bucolic, magical childhood in 1970s and 80s South Africa, where two boys with very different destinies shared a friendship amid the harsh realities of apartheid. Marco and Turan--despite one being White, the other designated ＂Coloured＂ under apartheid--develop a deep friendship, based on their shared sense of humor and love of adventure. As they grow older, the strictures of the apartheid regime cause their paths to diverge, but their friendship continues well into their teenage years. This book, told from Marco’s perspective as a boy and then as an adult reconciling his memory, is a meditation on that childhood friendship, and on the complexities of race, oppression, and opportunity in apartheid South Africa. Combining modern South African history, stories of Zulu life and culture, the boys’ own adventures amid their growing awareness of apartheid, and the author’s adult reckoning with the harsh realities of racism, Turan and Me will appeal to readers of Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime and Alex Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight as a reflection on coming of age in an era of injustice.

Marco V. Masotti grew up in apartheid-era Amanzimtoti, South Africa, the son of an Italian father and South African mother. He is a partner at Paul, Weiss. Marco serves as a director of the Friends of the Legal Resources Centre, South Africa’s largest public interest, human rights law clinic and is part of the founding advisory board for the Sorensen Center for International Peace and Justice at the City University of New York School of Law. He is the controlling owner of the Durban, South Africa professional rugby team, the Sharks. He resides in New York, New York with his family.