This is the story of Tara Westover, a woman born in Idaho to survivalist parents who viewed hospitals, schools, and the government as evil. She did not enter a classroom until the age of 17 and went on to study at Cambridge and Harvard. Education liberated her mind, but she lost her family in the process. Get book on Amazon (Highly Recommend). Tara Westover’s memoir “Educated,” which describes growing up in a survivalist family in rural Idaho and then going on to Harvard and Cambridge, is our May pick for the new PBS NewsHour-New.
Two quotes, one by Virginia Woolf, the other by John Dewey, is how Tara Westover’s memoir, Educated begins. The tone of the book is set up within these two quotes, though the depth of their meaning, and how ingrained they are within the events, is not realized until the story has finished.
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Educated A Memoir By Tara Westover Reviews
The story of Tara Westover’s life can be told in one sentence. She was raised by devout Mormon doomsdayers, was never sent to school, and succeeded in becoming educated through her own will at Cambridge and Harvard, ultimately receiving a PhD. However, this overview of Westover’s achievement is stripped of all what makes it astounding. In order to fully understand the weight of this education, one has to look into Westover’s upbringing. Out of trauma came growth.
Educated: A Memoir By Tara Westover Summary
The sheer density of this memoir must be appreciated on its own. Throughout the book, we are given the bone, muscle, and skin, both literally and figuratively, that made up Tara’s life prior to her publishing this memoir. It is those components that come to fully shape the form of this story, and what connects the reader so deeply with Tara.
While the concept of doomsdayers has been brought further into the spotlight by well circulated phenomenon such as Y2K and the end of the Mayan calendar, such personalities are no rival to Gene Westover. A man who should have died multiple times throughout the timeline of the memoir, Gene is the patriarch which holds his family together through intimidation and fear tactics. The concept of his having bipolar disorder is discussed multiple times throughout the book, yet the family’s strident resistance to medical assistance inhibits any prospect of a diagnosis.
The world of Buck’s Peak, Idaho is first seen through the eyes of an adventurous child, though the vast fields and relative free range soon gives way to abuse and neglect as Tara reaches puberty. In the world of her parents, Tara is to act quickly and subserviently, to cook and clean, work the junkyard as needed, and obey the commandments of God as set forth for women. The fallout of such harsh regulation and ignorance to change compounds in the character of Shawn.
The physical and mental abuse suffered under her brother haunts Tara for decades to come as she is accepted to one scholarly institute to the next. As Tara grows so does the readers wish for her to fully separate from her dysfunctional family. However, it is her own family’s resistance to accept their changed daughter and sister which finally drives Tara to the safety and support she was always deserving of.
Educated is not only the story of a woman overcoming her background, but of the strength needed to overcome abuse, and the harsh realities that come along with such a process. This is a gripping memoir that will leave the reader rereading passages, and cringing at the outcomes of accidents. Westover’s retelling of her story only adds power and meaning to all she has come to accomplish.