Brent Meersman’s compelling memoir, A Childhood Made Up, sees theauthor hurtle down memory lane to his childhood in Cape Town, where hegrew up in a family where storms were constantly ranging. His father,Willy, had a hairlip, an alcohol-addiction and battled withdepression. Brent’s mother, the captivating Shirley Meersman akaShirley Morris, aka Sirrom aka Churley aka Sherli, leaps out of thepages. Shirley is an absentminded artist who is contemptuous of SouthAfricans who think Picasso is a type of cheese. She also suffers fromschizophrenia. A Childhood Made Up is a poignant and powerful memoirskilfully told with raw and gritty honesty, but Brent also has a lighttouch and there are times were you will laugh out loud. It’s a taleabout pain and sorrow but it’s also a tale of recovery and redemption.