Happy Mothering Sunday to unconventional mothers

Happy Mothering Sunday to U.K. friends who have mothered me - Pat, Sue, Rosemary, Christine, Margaret - though some are younger than I am and all are too young to be my actual mother (isn't everybody)? Mothers come in various forms, often when they are most needed.

I just read two books that, to my surprise, turned out to be about mothers.

Much of Trevor Noah's Born a Crime is a tribute to his strong-willed, rule-defying, Jesus-loving, ass-whooping mother. “I thought that I was the hero of my story,” Noah told NPR’s Terry Gross, but “in writing it I came to realize over time that my mom was the hero. I was lucky enough to be in the shadow of a giant.”

And Mamaw, J.D. Vance's strong-willed, rule-defying, Jesus-loving, ass-whooping grandmother - his drug-addicted mother's mother - is the hero of Hillbilly Elegy. Without a doubt, she is the reason Vance made it through the Marines, university, and law school.

Those of us on the left side of the Atlantic have to wait a few more weeks for Mother's Day, whose thick pink cloud of sentimentality can make breathing difficult. There was nothing remotely sentimental about Noah's mother or Vance's grandmother, but they did their job and saved their kids. I'm glad their kids said thank you, and I highly recommend both books.

Though to enjoy them, you'll need to be able to appreciate, tolerate, or ignore the F-word...