Educated by Tara Westover

Summary

In this profound memoir, Tara Westover recalls her experience growing up as a member of a survivalist Mormon family in rural Idaho. Growing up in an isolated mountain community with a father who feared the government, Westover received no formal education until she was 17 and accepted to Brigham Young University. Westover’s love for learning would lead her to complete her PhD in Intellectual History from Trinity College at Cambridge University.

Thoughts and Opinions

This story is unbelievably powerful. It does not surprise me at all that this book stayed on the New York Times bestsellers list for 132 consecutive weeks. The experiences that Westover had to endure are not something that many of us could even imagine. And not only did she endure them, she still had the will to fight for a better life for herself.

The entire time I was reading this story I was in shock, but I couldn’t put it down. Make time for this one, it will be well worth it. It might even make you appreciate your childhood (and parents) a little more.

Downfalls

One downfall for this book is that the subject matter can be quite disturbing at times. Granted, you kind of know going into it that this is not a story that is filled with sunshine and rainbows, but still, some of the experiences Westover was forced to endure are jarring. There is a lot of abuse, neglect and vividly described injuries throughout the book that make you feel some of the pain that Westover had was forced to live with.

Interested in this book? Here is a link to purchase it on my Bookshop.