Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover – Book Review

2018 Copyright 352 pages

Educated: A Memoir is exactly that, a biography of Tara Westover’s life. She was raised by fanatical Mormon parents who were very strict in their beliefs. The world was led to believe Tara and her siblings were homeschooled by their parents although they did not believe in public education or doctors. Her parents were living ‘off the grid’ basically. She could be found most days working the scrap yards with her father or helping her midwife mother mix herbal blends for the sick. Sundays all were present in church. Tara was on the receiving end of threats and aggression from her older brother whose behavioral addictions were excused or ignored by her parents. It was a strange and difficult upbringing to the say the least.

Tara managed to persevere, teaching herself to read and write, later finding a job in a local store, which became her way out of the scrap yards. The first time Tara saw the inside of a classroom she was seventeen. She enrolled herself in college despite the misgivings of her parents. Her story covers her years of becoming a scholar at Cambridge and Oxford; and how she struggles with the beliefs instilled by her parents and the new ideals and relationships she experiences away at college. It is an interesting account of her life, sometimes bringing tears. I found myself cheering Tara on to better things.