#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER • One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University “Extraordinary . . . an act of courage and self-invention.”—The New York Times NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW … Times
NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW • ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • BILL GATES’S HOLIDAY READING LIST • FINALIST: National Book Critics Circle’s Award In Autobiography and John Leonard Prize For Best First Book • PEN/Jean Stein Book Award • Los Angeles Times Book Prize
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.
“Beautiful and propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of [Westover’s] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?”—Vogue
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • O: The Oprah Magazine • Time • NPR • Good Morning America • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • The Economist • Financial Times • Newsday • New York Post • theSkimm • Refinery29 • Bloomberg • Self • Real Simple • Town & Country • Bustle • Paste • Publishers Weekly • Library Journal • LibraryReads • Book Riot • Pamela Paul, KQED • New York Public Library
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This true story tells the harrowing journey of a young girl growing up in a survivalist family. Despite very little formal education she eventually earns a PhD. Her desire for an education causes a rift in her family which she tries over time to heal.
This is an outstanding book! I highly recommend!
Words escape me , it is hard for me to put into words the emotions this Memoir has instilled in my being . Tara is a Brave soul with a thirst for Education , that most likely saved her life, the way she grew up , the abuse that was ignored with in the family , it was heartbreaking to feel the weight of life Tara has endured.
It was sad and I felt sad for what Tara went through.I’m glad she is healing and was able to get an education and able to grow into the women she became.I’d recommend this book to very educational and get to see how the older generation raised their children.
The author’s description of went she was subjected to mentally and physically while growing up is almost unimaginable. It’s hard to believe she lived to adulthood.
It was a completely engaging book.
Here is another story that ‘hit’ me wrong. I understand and empathize with Tara on her life story. However, she failed to recognize all the opportunities that came her way and all the people who stood to help her. Where was the gratitude and recognition for that? I recognize that she is telling the tragic part of her life, but there is also much she can be grateful for too.
A beautifully written book by a person with the will to reach her goal.
Extremely difficult to read, but one of the most important books I read last year!
A gripping true story. It brings home the pervasive nature of survivalism and radicalism and how difficult it is to change that culture, once internalized. I devoured it in two days.
I really liked it.
This book was a beautiful description of education, what education is, how one gets an education, and the benefits of a formal education. It was also a beautiful description of family, both good and bad aspects of family, and how important family is in determining who one becomes.
Educated was disturbing, but fascinating. Talk about a complicated family. It’s a biography of the final success of one woman’s life versus the abuse she received. I couldn’t put it down!
Loved it. I kept waiting for child services to show up. Tara was born with smarts and thank god she got out of her childhood setting to prevail.
This book shook me, multiple times. It also gave me a unique insight into the psychology of the abused, specifically, that of a child brought up within the world built by a mentally ill parent. Having struggled with various conceptions of “truth” in my own life, I found her take on memory and justification intensely interesting. Well written, honest, and at times, shattering, this is a must-read, but be warned, you will be challenged, and changed, by her story.
This is one I do remember and a MUST READ
Just…wow. I don’t read a lot of memoir or nonfiction, but my husband purchased the audiobook of EDUCATED for a long car drive, and it…knocked…my…socks…off. We sat in silence the whole trip, mesmerized by Tara Westover’s story. She’s a gifted writer with quite a tale to tell. Very highly recommended.
I ordered the paperback copy, after seeing the author Tara Westover on the Ellen show. The story was captivating and well written. At several times, I couldn’t believe I was reading a true story. I give five stars, because this book is not in my usual category but kept me in hold all way.
Loved the book couldn’t put it down. Good discussion at Bookclub
It was outstanding.
Tara Westover’s fascinating, and at times disturbing, memoir describes her childhood, growing up in rural Idaho with parents who are religious fanatics and survivalists. She and her siblings don’t go to school and receive almost no education at home. Worse, they have almost no contact with the outside world. Eventually she grows up and makes her way into the real world — a world she is woefully unprepared for. There are so many lessons in this book, mostly about the importance of education, but also about standing up for yourself and the life you want to live. Her story is inspiring and unforgettable. I highly recommend this book.