Educated

• Rating: 5/5 stars
• Genre: Memoir
• Publisher: Random House
• Release Date: February 20, 2018
• Pages: 334

Synopsis:

Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her “head-for-the-hills bag”. In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father’s junkyard.

Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent.

Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one’s life through new eyes and the will to change it.

Review:

I honestly don’t know where to begin. Several years ago, I read The Glass Castle and was astounded by Walls’ family dysfunction. I had yet to meet the Westovers.

Reading about Tara Westover’s life felt almost miraculous. Abuse of every kind permeated her childhood, yet she survived — and not just survived, but became Dr. Tara Westover. That alone is nothing short of extraordinary.

Westover has a remarkable gift for storytelling. She grapples with memory in a way that feels honest and human, admitting that it can be unreliable or shaped by our own desires. Her narrative doesn’t just tell a story — it offers a small study of the mind itself.

Most importantly, this is a story of survival. At times, it seemed impossible that Tara would emerge intact, and yet she did. I had to constantly remind myself that this was nonfiction — that her experiences actually happened to her.

Final Thoughts

I was completely absorbed. I found myself holding my breath, flinching at moments, and even wanting to shout at her to see sense! I can’t remember the last book — nonfiction or otherwise — that made me feel this way.

If you are looking for an incredible, moving read that will make you grateful for all you have, Educated is an absolute must.