Educated by Tara Westover

From the Publisher: Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one's life through new eyes and the will to change it.

 

To call Educated only a memoir does it a great disservice. Tara Westover manages to tell her own story while also writing a book about the nature of family, about mental illness, about self-esteem and development, and about religious extremism­—all in a beautifully crafted story with compelling characters and a narrative flow that has you hooked from the first page.

 

Westover was born in Idaho, to extremist Mormon parents who didn’t believe in education or the government. Instead of attending school, she worked in her father’s scrapyard and helped her mother. For the first 17 years of her life, her only education was the practical skills she learned working, and her father’s fundamentalist views. She tells her story, from midwifing with her mother, to fighting with her siblings, to finally moving away and getting an education and realizing how large the world is outside of Buck’s Peak.

 

The subjects of the book can seem intimidating, but Westover does an excellent job of weaving her story and making you want to know what happens next. It reads much more like a novel than a memoir. It’s a great book for someone interested in fundamentalism, education, mental health, but it’s also great for someone who just likes a captivating story with interesting characters and good writing.

 

“You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them,” she says now. “You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life.”

This book is available in print and ebook formats from the Galesburg Public Library.