Educated

Description

Educated is the powerful, unforgettable memoir of Tara Westover, who was born to survivalist parents in rural Idaho and raised without access to formal education or modern medicine. Cut off from mainstream society, she spent her early years canning peaches, scrapping in her father’s junkyard, and bracing for an apocalyptic end. Her escape route? Education.

At sixteen, Tara began teaching herself, ultimately earning admission to Brigham Young University. Her journey led her from the mountains of Idaho to the halls of Harvard and finally to a PhD at Cambridge. But her pursuit of knowledge came with a painful cost: fractured family ties, emotional trauma, and a deep internal struggle over identity and belonging.

More than a story of academic achievement, Educated is a deeply personal coming-of-age narrative about self-invention, resilience, and the price of freedom. Tara Westover’s journey challenges us to ask: who are we without the people and beliefs that shaped us?