– A Truly Astonishing Account –
ABOUT THE BOOK
An unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University.
Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her 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. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.
Details
- Author: Tara Westover
- Publisher: Random House; 1st edition
- Publication Date: February 20, 2018
- Genre: Biography/Memoir
- Pages: 336
Rating
Where to begin? I guess I need to admit that I’m way behind many of you in reading this book. But for those who are like me, it’s time to bring this to the top of your to-be-read-list. It’s well worth jumping the line of books and putting this one at the top.
While it may be hard to imagine a family so cut off from the news and the world, I know it happens. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is one such example. The Westover parents seem to base their reasoning for drawing away from society on a very loose interpretation of religion and the Mormon doctrine. Also a paranoia regarding the United States government.
Tara and the children grow up believing only what they hear and experience in their small world of family and very few acquaintances. Though I’m sure there were some school lessons at home, it certainly took the back seat to work. And some will shudder at the storytelling of experiences in their father’s junkyard business.
When Y2K was drawing near, the family all prepared for the end of the world. But when the end, as predicted by Tara’s father, didn’t happen, he became confused and humbled for a short time.
To me, Tara’s mother came across as a very conflicted person. While it seemed she doubted some of the things that were happening in their household, she felt a stronger desire to standby and support her husband than to speak up.
The children never attended public school or received medical care or vaccinations, due to the Father’s beliefs. Instead, they homeschooled occasionally and relied wholly on homeopathic remedies. When you read some of the horrible things they didn’t seek medical assistance for, you will shake your head.
At times the parents seemed to be unwilling to acknowledge things within the family. Or in some cases, they no doubt just didn’t want to admit the truth of what was going on. I believe it must have felt easier to turn a blind eye to one of their children’s behavior of being kind one moment and horribly abusive the next.
But when one of Tara’s siblings breaks from the family and heads to Brigham Young University (and you’re no doubt wondering how that could happen with no schooling) things slowly change.
So now is the time you’re going to want to hop on out and pick up a copy of this book. How does someone with little to no education go to college? Wouldn’t you be so sheltered from the world that any change would be overwhelming? Would your truths only be the ones you grew up with? Could you handle foreign and new thoughts?
Get the book, folks. Whether the local library or bookstore, you need to read Educated by Tara Westover.
What Concerned Me
While there is so much good to glean from this book, I’m afraid it may be so astonishing that many will look only for the flaws.
- How could Tara remember so much information?
- Nobody lives like that in this day and age!
- How could she keep returning to abusive situations?
- Is she overdramatizing?
- The health issues had to be exaggerated.
The list can go on and on, but look up the facts and make your own determination. These things did NOT bother me personally.
What I Liked Best
This story caused me to care for each and every member of that family. Not just the children, but every family member. As we all well know, each person carries a story and baggage with them. In most cases, of course not all, people don’t set out to harm others. Their baggage and DNA can surface causing them to act out.
The story felt real. Some might wonder why Tara didn’t run screaming from her family earlier. I think I know. They are her family. Good or bad, most of us desire to think the best of our family members and hope that previous bad behavior is in the past. I believe each member was doing the best they could at the time.
Also, people will nearly always interpret and see things with a little different twist. I consider this book and Tara’s life to be exactly what she remembers it to be. It does mention that she kept a journal, at least part of the time. And I tend to believe what I read isn’t puffed up or exaggerated. I read her feelings and memories.
But I’m not here to dissect whether the story is 100 percent factual. I’m writing a review of my thoughts. And I think the good this book can bring to those who feel trapped and unable to move from their current situation, is powerful.
Tara Westover is an American author. Born in Idaho to a father opposed to public education, she never attended school. She spent her days working in her father’s junkyard or stewing herbs for her mother, a self-taught herbalist and midwife. Taught to read by an older brother, her education was erratic and incomplete. She was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. After that first encounter with education, she pursued learning for a decade, graduating magna cum laude from Brigham Young University in 2008 and subsequently winning a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. She earned an MPhil from Trinity College, Cambridge in 2009, and in 2010 was a visiting fellow at Harvard University. She returned to Cambridge, where she was awarded a PhD in history in 2014.
Educated is her first book.
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