''Educated'' (2018) is a memoir by the American author

Tara Westover Tara Jane Westover (born September 27, 1986) is an American memoirist, essayist and historian. Her memoir '' Educated'' (2018) debuted at No. 1 on ''The New York Times'' bestseller list and was a finalist for a number of national awards, includin ...

. Westover recounts overcoming her survivalist

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

family in order to go to college, and emphasizes the importance of education in enlarging her world. She details her journey from her isolated life in the mountains of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

to completing a PhD program in history at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. She started college at the age of 17 having had no formal education. She explores her struggle to reconcile her desire to learn with the world she inhabited with her father. As of the September 13, 2020, issue of ''The New York Times'', the book had spent 132 consecutive weeks on the Hardcover Non-Fiction Best Seller list. It won a 2019

Alex Award The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Essentially, the award is a listing by the American Library Association parallel to its annual Best Books for Young A ...

and was shortlisted for the ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize,

PEN America PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of litera ...

's Jean Stein Book Award, and two awards from the

Summary

Westover is raised in isolation in Buck's Peak, Idaho by her parents,

pseudonymously A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

referred to as Gene and Faye Westover respectively. Gene was paranoid about hospitals,

public education State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

, and the government, partially due to the siege at

Ruby Ridge Ruby Ridge was the site of an eleven-day siege in 1992 in Boundary County, Idaho, near Naples. It began on August 21, when deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) initiated action to apprehend and arrest Randy Weaver under a bench ...

. Faye consequently homeschools the Westover children. Gene denies Westover's attempts to seek normality in her life. Her brother Shawn initially helps her and the two grow closer but he starts physically abusing her as she befriends Charles, a boy she meets while performing in theater. Another of Westover's brothers, Tyler, learns of the abuse and encourages her to leave home and take the ACT to be able to apply to Brigham Young University (BYU). Westover is later admitted to BYU under a scholarship. Shawn reconciles with her after standing up to Gene on her behalf. Sometime later, Westover studies at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and receives scholarships that allow her to continue attending. The pressure of maintaining her grades in order to keep her scholarship results in Westover feeling stressed. Additionally, her alienation from the outside world and lack of formal schooling become issues. Later, Westover reconnects with Charles, but is unable to act romantically towards him because of her conservative upbringing. Remembering Gene's and Shawn's abuse towards her, results in Westover terminating her relationship with Charles. Westover now feels alienated in Idaho and worries that Gene may have

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

. She cuts ties with him, but reconnects after he expresses interest in her life at school. After Shawn marries Emily, a young woman he was dating, Westover worries about Emily who previously expressed fear of Shawn. Westover confides to one of her professors about her family. Her professor encourages her to apply for the studying abroad program at Cambridge. After arriving at King's College, Westover is assigned to work with Professor

Jonathan Steinberg Jonathan Steinberg (8 March 1934 – 4 March 2021) was the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of European History Emeritus and Chair of the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania. Career Steinberg received his undergraduate degree ...

. Both of her professors encourage her to attend graduate school. Westover applies for and wins the

Gates Scholarship The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation established the Gates Cambridge Scholarships in 2000 with a $210 million donation to support outstanding graduate students' study at the University of Cambridge. The scholarship is one of the most competitiv ...

and forms a temporary truce with Gene. The two previously fell out over how she chronicled her past to local news outlets and her decision to attend school in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. After returning to Cambridge, Westover takes steps to be part of the world, including getting immunized for vaccinations her family rejected. She occasionally returns to Idaho where she learns that Shawn is still abusing Emily. Her sister, Audrey, learned about Shawn's behavior, but Faye does not believe her. Westover and Faye take up email correspondence through which the latter suggests that Gene is mentally ill and writes about how they plan to get Shawn the help he needs. On another trip home, Shawn briefly shows signs of change, but later accuses Audrey of lying about his abusive behavior and threatens to kill her. Gene and Faye do not take Westover seriously when she tells them about Shawn's threat. Westover encounters Shawn with a bloody knife on another visit home. Terrified, she lies that Gene lied about Shawn's treatment to Audrey. Later, she realizes that Faye had never been on her or Audrey's side. After returning to England, Shawn threatens her life. Audrey also cuts ties with Westover, claiming she is under

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

's control. Westover then begins graduate school at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and her parents briefly visit and try to convince her to come home. After returning home again, Westover discovers that Erin, Shawn's ex-girlfriend, wrote to Faye that she was delusional and demonizing her brother. Westover returns to Harvard and eventually England. After suffering

panic attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, sweating, chest pain or chest discomfort, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, numbness, confusion, or a feeling of impending doom or of losing ...

s, she ends contact with her parents for a year, attempting to recover. She struggles in her studies, but Tyler encourages her and she successfully completes her PhD. Years later Westover returns to Idaho for her maternal grandmother's funeral. She reunites with Tyler, his wife, two maternal aunts and her other siblings, most of whom still take Gene's and Shawn's side. At the end of the memoir, Westover is in touch with only a few family members and accepts that she needs to be away from the mountain.

People featured in the book

Westover family

* Gene Westover (pseudonym): Westover's father, who did not believe in public education or doctors. He owns a metal scrapyard in Idaho. * Faye Westover (pseudonym): Westover's mother, a midwife and herbal specialist. She teaches her children at home. * Tony Westover: Westover's oldest brother and first child of their parents. He is noted only as working with their father at the scrapyard. * Shawn Westover (pseudonym): Westover's older brother, the second brother of the siblings. Shawn was physically, mentally and emotionally abusive toward Westover, and later to his wife. * Tyler Westover: Westover's older brother, the third brother of the seven siblings. Tyler is the first to go to college, and he encourages Westover to take the ACT so she can apply and go, too. He supports her against their parents and brother Shawn. * Luke Westover: Westover's older brother, the fourth brother. Luke is depicted as the brother who caught fire in the scrapyard and Westover had to help Faye nurse him back to health. * Richard Westover: Westover's older brother, fifth of the brothers. Richard remains loyal to the Mormon religion, and gives up his parental compelled isolation. He pursues higher education and marries. * Audrey Westover (pseudonym): Westover's only sister. She helps their mother with the herbal business. Although not close, Westover and Audrey together confront their mother about the abuse they suffered from Shawn. Audrey later cuts Westover out of her life, fearful of being disowned by their parents. * Tara Westover: Youngest child and writer of memoir. * Grandma-down-the-hill: Gene's mother. She often disagrees with Gene about his family, and encourages Westover to get an education and escape so she can live a normal life. * Grandma-over-in-town: Faye's mother. A prim and proper woman whom Westover didn't really connect with when she was growing up. She doesn't approve of Gene and became estranged from her daughter Faye after her marriage. *Aunt Debbie: Faye's estranged sister. After Westover distanced herself from her family, Debbie accepted her and Tyler with open arms. She helped Westover get her passport so she could study abroad. *Aunt Angie: Faye's other estranged sister. Angie was cast out of the Westover family after filing for unemployment when she was fired from the family business. Gene thought Angie was trying to put him on a government watchlist.

Other major people

* Charles: Westover's first "boyfriend". Clouded by her father's teachings, Westover is never able to get intimate with Charles. She ends up distancing herself from him when Shawn's abuse gets worse and he tries to tell her that Shawn's behavior wasn't normal. They remain friends to this day. *Drew: Westover's boyfriend during the third part of the memoir. He is the first boyfriend whom she tells about her family and her upbringing. * Dr. Kerry: Westover's professor at BYU. He helps her get a spot in the study abroad program to Cambridge and encourages/supports her in her academic career. * Dr. Jonathan Steinberg: Westover's advisor at Cambridge. He finds her talented and takes an interest in her education. * Erin: One of Shawn's ex-girlfriends. Westover reaches out to her in hopes she will help corroborate Westover's timeline of Shawn's abuse. Whilst "helping" her, Erin also communicates with Faye, saying that Westover is "demonizing" Shawn. * Sadie: Another of Shawn's ex-girlfriends. She also suffered from Shawn's psychological abuse. * Robin: Westover's second-year roommate. She helps her adjust to living with strangers and other aspects of life off the mountain. * Emily Westover: Shawn's wife, who is nearly a decade younger than he. Westover describes her as "compliant", and predicts that Shawn will abuse and manipulate her. * Stefanie Westover: Tyler's wife. She helps him transition into the larger world. She supports Tyler when he confronts his parents about Shawn's abuse of Westover. * Kami Westover: Richard's wife. * Benjamin: Audrey's husband.

Background

Of her upbringing, Westover has said, "My father created our reality in a really meaningful way because we were so isolated. He would say these things about public education and doctors and the government and we didn't know any better. We didn't go to school so as far as we knew the world was exactly the way our father described it." Westover got her undergraduate degree at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

and her PhD at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. Westover decided to write the book after she confronted her parents about her brother's abuse, and the resulting conflict led to her becoming estranged from some members of her family. She began searching for stories to help her understand what had happened. In 2018, she told ''The New York Times'', "I wrote the book I wished I could have given to myself when I was losing my family. When I was going through that experience, I became aware of how important stories are in telling us how to live — how we should feel, when we should feel proud, when we should feel ashamed. I was losing my family, and it seemed to me that there were no stories for that — no stories about what to do when loyalty to your family was somehow in conflict with loyalty to yourself. And forgiveness. I wanted a story about forgiveness that did not conflate forgiveness with reconciliation, or did not treat reconciliation as the highest form of forgiveness. In my life, I knew the two might always be separate. I didn't know if I would ever reconcile with my family, and I needed to believe that I could forgive, regardless." Westover has said that she set out to explore the complexity of difficult family relationships. In an interview with ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', she said, "You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them, and you can miss someone every day and still be glad they're not in your life." Her parents' attorney has said that "Her parents raised their family in what Tara described as an extremist mindset, but what they felt was self-sufficiency." They maintain that there is only a "little germ of truth" in her book. Their attorney said Westover's parents were hurt that Westover would write a book that slanders her upbringing and that she would accuse her brother hawnof the abuse described.

Reception

''Educated'' was an instant #1 ''

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'' bestseller, and was positively reviewed by ''The New York Times'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', and ''

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'', among others. The book was also nominated for a number of national awards, including the ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize,

's Jean Stein Book Award, and two awards from the

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults The American Library Association's Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults, formerly Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults, is a recommendation list of audiobooks presented yearly by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) division. The Y ...

*2019: Outstanding Books for the College Bound *2019: Westover chosen by ''

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'' magazine as one of the

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of 2019 *2019: ALA's

*2018: The National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography *2018: One of ''The New York Times'' 10 Best Books *2018: Amazon Editors' pick for the Best Book of 2018 *Named the Book of the Year by the

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* Finalist for the John Leonard Prize from the

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* Finalist for the Autobiography Award from the National Book Critics Circle * Finalist for the ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize in Biography * Finalist for PEN/America's Jean Stein Award * Finalist for the American Booksellers Association Audiobook of the Year Award * Finalist for

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's Discover Great Writers Award * Long-listed for the Carnegie Medal of Excellence * Winner of the

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for Autobiography * Winner of the

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for Autobiography/Memoir * Apple's Best Memoir of the Year *

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's Best Memoir of the Year * Hudson Group Best Book of the Year * President Barack Obama's pick for summer reading and his Favorite Books of the Year list * Bill Gates's Holiday Reading list * ''Educated'' named one of the Best Books of the year by ''The Washington Post'', ''

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'', ''Time'',

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, ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''Bloomberg'', ''

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'', '' Town & Country'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', Book Riot, and the

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. * Featured speaker, Seattle Arts & Lectures, 2019

References

{{Reflist 2018 non-fiction books American memoirs Random House books Books about higher education