By: Dr. Tara Westover
HIGHLY RECOMMEND
TLDR: This is one of the best books that I’ve read this year, and I am NOT a non-fiction girlie. The story is riveting, and I couldn’t put it down. Educated is fraught with evangelism, government conspiracies, and the principle of family devotion. Dr. Tara Westover writes one of the most relatable stories about what happens when you don’t see eye-to-eye with the people you love and who are supposed to love you the most.
The longer review: Tara Westover is the 5th of 7 children raised in a Mormon family in Idaho. She spends most of her childhood helping out with the family businesses because her father believes that public schools are a government ploy to brainwash children – and hospitals are supposedly just as bad. Everything is left to God (and homeopathic medicine) in the Westover family. It’s clear from the beginning that there are some mental health concerns facing at least a couple of Tara’s family members, and there are gripping tales of the inner workings of this bunch. Some of the trials that this family – and more specifically Tara – experience are truly mind-blowing.
Despite her upbringing, Tara is eventually called to higher education defeating all of the odds stacked against her. When she ultimately completes her undergraduate degree at BYU, and THEN a Master’s from Cambridge, and THEN decides to pursue a PhD, she finds herself faced with a choice. She can either succumb to her family’s religious beliefs and conspiracy theories to maintain relationships with [most of] them, or choose herself and the education that’s enabled her to discern fact from conspiracy.
I struggled a little with some of the ‘piling on’ of struggles and abuse (see review for Betty), but was ultimately enthralled waiting to see how Tara came out of each instance. At so many points during her explanation of her early undergrad days, I felt like I was learning alongside the author. Her story is truly magnificent, and I even found myself crying when reading about one of her small familial victories. It’s a must read, hands down.
