Book review: Educated by historian Tara Westover

Educated by Tara Westover, Penguin Random House.

What every autobiography writer should know about the bestselling memoir by Penguin Random House

I recently finished Tara Westover’s Educated.

The story is gripping, horrifying and intriguing all at once.

I had this international bestselling memoir on my must-read autobiographies list for 2018.

And I listened to the audiobook version over a few days – seriously I could not turn it off!

The book was published in 2018 by Windmill Books (Penguin Random House Company) and selected as a book of the year by Amazon plus numerous publications including The Times, Guardian and New York Times.

And its reputation continues to grow.

It has also been supported by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former American president Barack Obama.

The number of accolades is staggering, especially given Educated is Westover’s first book and that she is only in her early 30s.

Keep reading to find out what the book is about, my favourite parts and what it can teach fellow autobiography writers.

Tara Westover’s Mormon upbringing

Westover starts the book by introducing her large ‘survivalist’ Mormon family and their home in rural 1980s Idaho, America.

Multiple generations live and work together under Buck’s Peak.

Westover’s deeply religious father owns a scrap yard, which he runs with help from his children.

The children were born at home and Westover does not have a birth certificate.

They receive basic homeschooling but are essentially left to their own devices to learn or qualify for university.

Meanwhile her mother becomes a self-trained midwife, herbalist businesswoman and all-round healer.

She gains much experience patching up her family when they are injured, sometimes horrifically, in the scrap yard.

While there is love in the family there is also violence.

Westover is terrorised by an older brother and her father, who it is suggested struggle with undiagnosed mental conditions.

Meanwhile she watches another older brother make a break for university and decides she wants to do the same.

By studying basic textbooks and seeking help Westover qualifies for college where she goes on to attain unbelievable success.

“An education is not so much about making a living as making a person,” Westover writes in the book.

Coaching Calls Forever Young Autobiographies. Open hand outstretched over sparkling water.

Life of Tara Westover

For me one of the most interesting points in the 400-page book is how fervently Westover’s father puts all his faith in God.

For instance, he believes there is no need for many health and safety precautions on the job in the scrap yard because God is looking out for everyone.

Basically, if you are hurt it is God’s will.

“We had been bruised and gashed and concussed, had our legs set on fire and our heads cut open (from working around the farm),” Westover writes.

“We had lived in a state of alert, a kind of constant terror, our brains flooding with cortisol because we knew that any of those things might happen at any moment.

“Because Dad always put faith before safety.”

Westover the child does not question her father’s beliefs but as she grows up she cautiously begins to experiment with ‘gentile’ ways.

This includes wearing jeans, make-up, taking medicines, seeing a doctor, even adopting basic hygiene habits like washing her hands after going to the bathroom, and traveling to study.

However, I believe the most powerful part of the book is when Westover makes the decision to leave home.

She is scared for her life and the unpredictable personalities of her family.

By leaving Westover suffers many consequences: ostracised by her family, labeled insane by some and suffers a breakdown.

She realises there is no hope of compromise or logical negotiation.

“Reality became fluid,” Westover writes.

“The ground gave way beneath my feet, dragging me downward, spinning fast, like sand rushing through a hole in the bottom of the universe … I had lost an entire kinship, and for what?”

Educated review

With little initial education Westover goes on to become a full-fledged academic.

There is no doubt she is an exceptional writer.

Westover says in the book that the bulk of the memoir was written in a few months while she lived in the United Kingdom.

An amazing feat.

What I love about the book is how she references and summarises some of her childhood journal entries.

Westover uses snippets to present her old way of thinking compared to the present.

But she also questions the entries and her memories.

How true are these Westover asks?

How do they compare to others’ points of view who were there?

Sometimes she summarises the most likely ‘truth’ while other times she declares some memories wrong.

Westover has emotionally exposed herself in many ways through writing this book.

She expresses her doubt, anxiousness and fear of not belonging.

It has clearly taken immense bravery to show the world her family and life.

Especially as the consequences of such a book have the potential to further entrench family divides.

Final say

Anyone with an open mind and curiosity about understanding Mormonism, family and self-determination will enjoy reading Educated.

It is an exceptional story of how Tara Westover becomes an academic success.

But more than this it is an amazing, emotional and truthful story of a young woman’s push for independence.

“You could call this selfhood many things. Transformation. Metamorphosis. Falsity. Betrayal. I call it an education. This story is not about Mormonism.”

You will still be thinking about this book long after you have finished reading.

Educated will educate you in many ways as a reader and a writer.

Want to make a start on your own life story like Tara Westover? Try my FREE training video to map out your key memories and chapter structure. Sign up here.

What did you think of Educated? I’d love to hear about it. Send me an email.

Have you hit a roadblock planning, writing or finishing your autobiography? Let me know here so I can help!

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This article first appeared on the website Forever Young Autobiographies.com.