When Tara Westover sat down to take her ACT's she had never stepped foot in a classroom or taken a formalized school test. The bubble form answer sheet confounded her. And she got a 22. She went back home to her family's home in rural Idaho to keep studying in between helping at her family's junkyard. Tara's family didn't care how she did on any test, all they cared about was whether or not she could carry her own weight. Coming from a survivalist family that did not value a traditional education it was Tara's brother, the black sheep of the family, who planted the seed that college was attainable for her. Tara was seventeen when she took her first class at BYU. It was there that she heard the word "Holacaust" for the first time. It was there that she learned about textbooks and homework. It was there that she went to the doctor for the first time. It was at college that Tara first realized that the abuse she suffered at the hand of her older brother was not normal. It was there that Tara realized the way her family lived was not normal. It was there that she realized her father and brother, Shawn, may be mentally ill. And finally, it was at BYU that Tara realized that she had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Tara went on to get her doctorate from Cambridge University, but will her relationship with her family survive her desire to become educated?
Educated is one of those memoirs that reads like a fiction novel. Tara is a fantastic narrator whose naivete made her so lovable in a family full of nutjobs. And make no mistake, her family is full of nutjobs. In graphic detail, Tara recounts the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her brother, Shawn. I grew up in a large family where we siblings sometimes got rough with each other, but never did we exhibit the kind of violence Tara experienced. And her parents not only let it happen but denied that it even happened. Also, Tara graphically describes the brutal injuries her family suffered and they never sought medical care because of her father's distrust of the government. The fact that any of them survived was a freaking miracle. I think that Tara is a gifted storyteller who told some ugly truths about her family and herself in such an honest way that you cannot help but have respect for her.
Bottom Line - Educated is such a well-written memoir exploring a way of life that very few of us can never even begin to understand. In a manner that can only be described as brave, Tara Westover shares the details of what it was like for her to grow up in a survivalist family. It is a worthy read if you are looking for something different to read.
Details:
- Educated by Tara Westover
- On Facebook
- Pages: 352
- Publisher: Random House Publishing
- Publication Date: 2/20/2018
- Buy it Here!
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