#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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Powerful story of family and its effect on the individual
Stunned. I can’t even remember how I heard about this book, perhaps it was shown as a new release at my local library. All I remember was the little synopsis looked promising as I love reading unique biographies. I grew up in a fairly strict environment which I struggled to fit into. The message I was broken and needed fixing was clear. BUT what I experienced was peanuts compared to the isolated and deeply crazy environment that Tara Westover grew up in.
I followed her journey with amazement, turning page after page, unable to put it down. She never saw a doctor. Never went to school. Yet somehow she managed to study and pass the exam to attend university. I was in awe. What also surprised me was her experiences when she began her university studies. There were so many things I had not thought of. She didn’t know to wash her hands after using the bathroom or keep her shared space clean. She didn’t understand social situations nor could anyone understand the world she grew up in. There was little common ground to build on. When she was unfamiliar with a term and asked about it in class, everyone was horrified thinking she was making a joke. The word – Holocaust. To keep up, she had to constantly look up historical references such as the slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. When asked to write an essay for her homework, she had no idea what that was, what was expected of her. What carried her through was her intelligence and an incredible desire to learn.
Somehow, despite the difficulty of her educational journey, she ended up becoming a top scholar. I found myself with a deep sense that it was her difficult, strange upbringing and her unconventional journey to gain knowledge that helped her look at what she was studying in a different way. It helped her bring a new perspective to the table and led professors who recognized this to support and guide her journey.
A great read, but hard at times. Especially when it shares about difficult experiences with her parents and the physical brutality she suffered at the hands of one brother with a violent temper.
Oh my, why did I wait so long to read this book?? I’m probably the last person on earth that hasn’t read it and after reading it, I’m not sure why I waited so long. I will say that it lived up to all the hype!! It was written in a way that really pulled me in and kept me wanting to read more.
For me to like a memoir, I have to be able to relate to the author. Tara Westover is a very relatable person. We have different backgrounds, but I could relate to some of her family struggles.
The following quote from Tara hit me with all the feels!
“You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them. You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life.”
Who hasn’t had someone like that in their life? You love them so much, but they aren’t good for you so you have to let them go? It is a heart-wrenching thing to have to do. You never stop missing that person every single day and there is a pull from within you to go back to them because things might be different this time around, but you know in your heart that it could never really be different. It leaves you with a feeling of angst.
The story of Tara’s life is about growing up in a Mormon family with a submissive mother, aggressive brother and mentally unstable father. Tara’s father, the ruler of the family, doesn’t believe in modern day medicine or public education. So, Tara grew up without an education and the family used natural alternatives to modern medicine, even when more care was needed. Tara writes of her struggles growing up in Idaho within her brainwashing family dynamics. There were times while reading the book that I had to just stop…..It was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that I wasn’t reading a novel of Fiction, but that these things actually happened to someone. Even after several weeks, the book is haunting my thoughts.
Educated is also an inspiring memoir. Tara overcame her insurmountable odds and went on to college, even without a high school diploma. She braved a new world, unknown to her, and severed her family ties in exchange for a better future. That’s one mighty strong and determined women to overcome everything she did!
Your background may not be exactly like Tara’s, but if you have past experiences that are making you feel stuck in your life…..Read. This. Book.!! Tara will show you that with perseverance, you can overcome anything and that your past does not define you!
Thank you to @NetGalley, #RandomHouse and @Tara.Westover for providing me an Advanced Reader Copy of Educated in exchange for my unbiased review. I am just so sorry it took me so long to get to it!!
Love the way she paints a picture with words. Her words evoke the use of all your senses. Thank you for sharing.
The author did a good job of describing her scary world and she wrote some nice descriptions of the land surrounding her home.
I mean like this book is literally my first favorite book. Bro, like this is the book I would read for my entire life. And I’m actually 11 and writing all of this. I’m just saying this book is so awesome in every step of the way.
-lily
This is an amazing read – one of my all-time favorites.
Educated is a must read.
Predictable
As someone who came from a Christian cult background, this book was very freeing and cathartic. It helped me deal with things in my own upbringing. Thank you Tara.
This book portrays a part of life most main stream Americans seldom see – an inside look at the emotional and physical effects of adults who choose to live off the grid and the children who overcome those obstacles through grit and determination to be educated. At times, I became frustrated as to why the young adults would remain in that environment but I recognize that I have not experienced what they did so don’t feel qualified to judge them.
An amazing woman surviving and flourishing.
Both haunting and inspiring! Loved this book.
After reading this book, I would like to see her story and take her take on it after 20 years.
Almost unbelievable true story of overcoming adversity. Shocking to know this was happening in the 1970s!
Such an achievement. I was impressed.
I’ve been dying to discuss this book with someone. Fascinating, compelling, heartbreaking, instructive. For the past two days I feel like I’ve been “recovering” from reading it. So much to ponder.
Although I like to read non fiction, I don’t read many autobiographical ones. I read this because of its popularity. This is a powerful memoir of the author’s life. What she describes about her life is unimaginable. But I couldn’t stop reading. She was raised by a family who lived a survivalist simple life and who did not believe in modern health care or formal education. I wanted, wished for there to be an end to the physical and emotional pain that she kept enduring. I was in awe with the strength she found to rise up and get a formal education and change her life. She removed herself from her family. But I can imagine to myself that she was torn by both her family bonds and unspoken obligations and her desire to escape. And that even then she would feel guilty by the twisted emotions even though she shouldn’t.
Incredible story of courage and perseverance!
This was an interesting and moving story, but by the end of the book, I was very upset Westover that she had done little to help the children left behind with her dysfunctional family.