Educated: A Memoir
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WITH FOUR MILLION COPIES SOLD • “A heartbreaking, heartwarming, best-in-years memoir about striding beyond the limitations of birth and environment into a better life.”—USA Today
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
• #6 New York Times Readers Pick for the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
• One of Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of the Year
• Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, and PEN/Jean Stein Book Award
• Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, O: The Oprah Magazine, Time, NPR, Good Morning America, San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian, and many more
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
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Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Educated* is a gripping, inspiring memoir about resilience amid a harsh, isolated upbringing. Reviewers agree Tara Westover’s clear, deli...
This is the not the type of book I would usually read (I tend to go for classics, histories and prize-winning fiction), and without my book club it wouldn’t have even entered my radar.
I’m so glad it did.
I found this story to be a tender and thought-provoking portrait of a family torn apart by strong-willed beliefs and pride, and whilst the specifics of the story initially appeared rather niche, it is through the specificity of the story that general truths about familial love are revealed.
5 / 5 stars
This memoir was fascinating; like a car wreck you can't look away from. You know it's wrong to gawk and stare but the tragedy and shock keep you wanting to know all the uncomfortable details.
Having an idea that in the end everything seems to turn out okay helped to make reading the difficult parts a little easier.
It's going to make for a great discussion at book club next week.
This memoir was fascinating; like a car wreck you can't look away from. You know it's wrong to gawk and stare but the tragedy and shock keep you wanting to know all the uncomfortable details.
Having an idea that in the end everything seems to turn out okay helped to make reading the difficult parts a little easier.
It's going to make for a great discussion at book club next week.
Educated is a gripping and almost unbelievable tale that showcases the extent to which humans can be influenced by extreme beliefs. The book delves into her life growing up in a strict, survivalist Mormon family in rural Idaho. This tears at your heart and impresses at the resilience of the human spirit.
Amazing story. It's hard to believe she, or any of her siblings, survived this childhood.
Westover was raised in rural Idaho, by a tyrannical, fundamentalist (is that the word for it?) Mormon, survivalist father, who didn't trust schools, hospitals, or the government, endangering their lives seemingly at every turn.
They weren't exactly homeschooled either. They spent their days helping their father in the scrapyard he owned, or helping their mother with her essential oils and tinctures that stood in for real medicine. It was an older brother who opened her eyes to music and the idea of learning things outside the Book of Mormon.
As a teenager, she found her voice. Literally. She'd taken singing lessons and discovered she could make beautiful sounds. She sang at her church and everyone praised her. She soon started auditioning for local musicals in a neighboring town. This was another push towards freedom and escape from her abusive, mentally ill father. But there was also a brother who had a similar mental illness with a lot more violence attached. I thought for sure he would end up killing someone by the end of the book. I was right, but not what you're thinking... :-(
She decided she wanted to go to school and studied and studied until she was able to pass the ACT and get herself enrolled at BYU at the age of 17. (At one point, when she was 16, her parents tried to kick her out of the house and said she really should be on her own by now. They thought she was 20. They couldn't even remember how old their own daughter was!)
Once entering BYU, she soared higher and higher and farther and farther away from the abuse and mental illness of the family who raised her.
And I'm the last person to read this book so why am I even writing all this??! ;-D
But one more thing: This book is not critical of Mormonism, as she clearly states at the end. I thought about that throughout the book, that this was not bashing her religion, or any religion, but just her story about her crazy family!
Westover was raised in rural Idaho, by a tyrannical, fundamentalist (is that the word for it?) Mormon, survivalist father, who didn't trust schools, hospitals, or the government, endangering their lives seemingly at every turn.
They weren't exactly homeschooled either. They spent their days helping their father in the scrapyard he owned, or helping their mother with her essential oils and tinctures that stood in for real medicine. It was an older brother who opened her eyes to music and the idea of learning things outside the Book of Mormon.
As a teenager, she found her voice. Literally. She'd taken singing lessons and discovered she could make beautiful sounds. She sang at her church and everyone praised her. She soon started auditioning for local musicals in a neighboring town. This was another push towards freedom and escape from her abusive, mentally ill father. But there was also a brother who had a similar mental illness with a lot more violence attached. I thought for sure he would end up killing someone by the end of the book. I was right, but not what you're thinking... :-(
She decided she wanted to go to school and studied and studied until she was able to pass the ACT and get herself enrolled at BYU at the age of 17. (At one point, when she was 16, her parents tried to kick her out of the house and said she really should be on her own by now. They thought she was 20. They couldn't even remember how old their own daughter was!)
Once entering BYU, she soared higher and higher and farther and farther away from the abuse and mental illness of the family who raised her.
And I'm the last person to read this book so why am I even writing all this??! ;-D
But one more thing: This book is not critical of Mormonism, as she clearly states at the end. I thought about that throughout the book, that this was not bashing her religion, or any religion, but just her story about her crazy family!
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