Educated - Tara Westover

Westover tells of her growing up with a mentally ill erratic father in a family enclosed by fundamentalist Mormonism. The family’s penchant for heavy machinery and denial of modern medicine makes for countless thrilling and tragic tales.

This powerful memoir confronts the trauma of psychological illness entangled in the love for one’s family. It reveals the force of human nature: to endure and escape adversity.

With no education, Tara battles a sick and abusive brother, and a wild schizophrenic father, to break free from her oppressive and frenetic upbringing. It is a pleasure to observe her incisive and reflective writing, being the very thing that eventually emancipates her.

Against all odds, she arrives at Cambridge University to study for a doctorate, but this comes at a devastating cost. Unable to coexist, she is forced to choose between her education and her family. She struggles to manage this conflict, withstanding physical and psychological attacks not only by her family members but the family values that reside within her.

A killer read, a story that must be told. However, in the final pages, she cannot arrive at a resolution – one feels she is still to make peace with her decisions today.

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