#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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My book club read this book and it was an overwhelming success. We all found it absolutely fascinating
On a 5 star rating for how “well written “ this book is, I would give it a 7. I would give it a 10 to describe how much I was moved.
“I had felt something infinite, and I wanted a taste of that infinity.” This quote is from the book and it helps me express how I feel.
A lot of words with not much said.
Amazing book! So many twists and turns – I have no idea how anyone survives a childhood like that and goes on to success. It will blow your mind. Very well written – you will be addicted to the book in the first few chapters. Loved it!
Excellent read about how one can overcome obstacles in the face of hopelessness.
Great memoir–but sad story of a dysfunctional family. I wanted more information about her life after she cut her ties with her family. Did she marry? Have children? Obviously a woman who valued education despite the problems she faced with her familyl.
This memoir is simply amazing. It’s a testament to what people are capable of achieving. Tara was raised in a backwoods environment with no formal education but went on to earn degrees from BYU and Cambridge. If you normally shy away from non-fiction, trust me…this reads like a fiction story. Unbelievable and yet true!
Everyone’s life story is surely unique, but Tara Westover’s life is remarkable in that respect. Enough reason to read EDUCATED, but this memoir offers much more. What raised it to a higher peg for me was Westover’s ability to convey her thoughts so accurately that she touches on the universal, something authors may aspire to do but rarely achieve. My life has been nothing like hers, but one description in particular moved me to think, “I experienced that, too.” No trivial moment, either one, which made the mental connection feel especially real.
A shocking, almost unbelievable life story. Heartbreaking and eye opening. Definitely a MUST READ for everyone.
Tough but unflinching record of a childhood and adolescence that ended well.
Just Wow! A really great reading. It was hard to put this book down. Some of the things she went through with her family, I can relate to. The questions, wondering if there’s something wrong me as a woman, and feeling like a liar. I too had some time in the Mormon church, good and bad. And her dad, how he is so quick to point out what women need to do yet, how easily forgets what he needed to do as a man and father. Tagged himself to her mothers fortune… just tsk tsk
A family unlike any we have known exposed. The extreme Mormon family that verges on pathological
Wow. What courage this woman has to share her story. She is a wonderful storyteller, which makes sense considering her impressive education. This woman has experienced things that seem like fiction to me. It is hard to imagine a truth like hers, and yet I’m sure it happens more frequently than anyone would want to admit. I’ve read/watched a few other reviews on this book, and like many things that succeed as well as her book has, there are people ready to label and pass judgement. Some of the reviews made me wonder if the reviewer had even read the book. Calling her anti-Mormon or anti-homeschooling is ridiculous and not true at all, she comments on both of those things, and I, for one appreciate her openness on willing to admit memory is a strange thing and others in her family remembered things differently, and she includes those memories as well. She is more than accommodating in the narrative of her own life and experiences. I don’t walk away with any judgement towards any that have hurt her, my only true take away from this is the magnitude of untreated mental health issues in America. She is an amazing person and I’m so glad to have read her story.
An incredible story of the journey of the author.
Well written and inspirational
Westover‘s Educated is a haunting memoir of a girl who left home and then tried to return. At times shocking and unbelievable, this book definitely gets under your skin!
Excellent
Un-put-downable. This was a fantastic read. Absolutely unbelievable to think Tara grew up in this situation. Amazing that she managed to not just pull herself from it, but that she then survived, thrived even. Truly a great read and an inspirational story.
~ Claire
This is a phenomenal book; but also a very difficult read in that the parents (especially the father) and some of her siblings are so terribly narrow-minded and harsh in their judgments of the outside world and the main character. I eagerly read every page (though, at times, it was very difficult to learn of her treatment at the hands of many family members; and was disappointed when I finished the book….I didn’t want to stop learning about her. It is my hope that she’ll write more about herself.
Fascinating true story of a journey to overcome trauma and “mind control” from childhood. Thought provoking study of the brain—genius, mental illness, what’s in our control, and how deep traumas can affect us forever. Being a Christian, I wanted this young woman to cry out for help from God. But her way of finding peace was through educating her brilliant mind.