Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover is an internationally bestselling book that chronicles her journey from an isolated, survivalist childhood in rural Idaho to earning a PhD from Cambridge University. The book emphasizes the transformative power of education and the struggle for self-invention amid complex and challenging family loyalties. 

Synopsis

Tara Westover was born into a fundamentalist Mormon family in the mountains of Idaho, with a paranoid father who distrusted public education, doctors, and the government. She and her six siblings were largely homeschooled in an inconsistent manner, and Tara never set foot in a formal classroom until she was 17. The children worked in their father's dangerous junkyard and treated serious injuries with their mother's herbal remedies due to their parents' refusal of modern medicine. 

Growing up in this environment, Tara was physically and emotionally abused by an older brother and forced to question her own reality (gaslighting). Inspired by another older brother, Tyler, who left to attend college, Tara began to educate herself, teaching herself enough math and grammar to pass the ACT exam and gain admission to Brigham Young University (BYU). Her quest for knowledge led her across continents, eventually earning a Master's and a PhD in history from Cambridge University and a fellowship at Harvard. 

The memoir recounts her struggle to reconcile her new self and worldview with her deep loyalty to her family, a painful process that ultimately leads to her estrangement from many of them. 

Key Themes

• The Power of Education: The central theme is how education acts as a force for liberation and self-creation, providing Tara with a new perspective to evaluate her life and the will to change it.
• Family Loyalty vs. Personal Identity: The book intensely explores the conflict between familial duty and the need to forge one's own identity and path, a struggle that comes with significant emotional cost.
• Memory and Subjectivity: As a historian, Westover grapples with the unreliability of memory, frequently including footnotes that note when her recollections differ from those of other family members, highlighting the subjective nature of personal history.
• Resilience and Self-Discovery: Tara's story is a testament to the strength of the human spirit in overcoming extreme adversity, including physical violence and emotional manipulation, to find her own voice and autonomy. 

Main Characters

• Tara Westover: The narrator and protagonist, whose journey from isolation to academic success forms the core of the memoir.
• Gene Westover (Father): Tara's father, a paranoid survivalist and patriarch whose extreme beliefs dictate the family's way of life and isolation from mainstream society.
• Faye Westover (Mother): Tara's mother, a midwife and herbalist who is ultimately loyal to her husband and his beliefs, despite occasional moments of doubt.
• Shawn Westover: An older brother who is physically and emotionally abusive towards Tara and other women, but remains protected by the family structure.
• Tyler Westover: An older brother who is the first to leave home for college and becomes a crucial ally and source of support for Tara's own educational pursuits. 

Reception and Awards

Educated was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller and remained on the hardcover non-fiction list for over two years. It was praised by figures like Bill Gates and Barack Obama. 

Key accolades include:

• Named one of the 10 Best Books of 2018 by The New York Times.
• Winner of a 2019 Alex Award.
• Shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and two National Book Critics Circle Awards.
• Voted the Nonfiction Book of the Year by the American Booksellers Association.
• Time Magazine named Tara Westover one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2019.