''Educated'' is a 2018 memoir by American author Tara Westover. Westover recounts overcoming her

survivalist Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists, doomsday preppers or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, and other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, ...

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 landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

to completing a PhD program in history at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. 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 New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 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". Since 2002, the Alex Awards have been administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of th ...

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 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose goal is to raise awareness for the protection of free expression in the United States and worldwide th ...

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

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

, and the government, partially due to the siege at Ruby Ridge. Faye consequently

homeschool Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

s 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 Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU). Westover is later admitted to BYU under a scholarship. Shawn reconciles with her after standing up to Gene on her behalf. After her acceptance, Westover studies at

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 (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

. 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. Both of her professors encourage her to attend graduate school. Westover applies for and wins the Gates Scholarship 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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

's control. Westover then begins graduate school at

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

, 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 Comfort, discomfort that may include palpitations, otherwise defined as a Tachycardia, rapid, Arrhythmia, irregular Heart rate, heartbeat, Hyperhidrosis, sweating, chest pain or discomfort, s ...

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 for Val): Westover's father, who did not believe in public education or doctors. He owns a metal scrapyard in Idaho. * Faye Westover (pseudonym for LaRee): 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. He is 12 years older than Tara. * Shawn Westover (pseudonym): Westover's older brother, the second brother of the siblings, 10 years older than Tara. 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. He is 8 years older than Tara. * 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. He is 6 years older than Tara. * Audrey Westover (pseudonym for Valaree): 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. She is the fifth child, 5 years older than Tara. * Richard Westover: Westover's older brother, fifth of the brothers, four years older than Tara. Richard remains loyal to the Mormon religion, and gives up his parental compelled isolation. He pursues higher education and marries. * 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. While "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

and her PhD at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. 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 was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', 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. Tara Westover's mother later published a book entitled "Educating" that provides her perspective on some of the events described in "Educated."

Reception

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

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

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

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', '' Vogue'',''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'', and '' Literary Review'', which praised Westover's writing as "crisp, persuasive and heartbreaking in its honesty." According to

Book Marks ''Literary Hub'' or ''LitHub'' is a daily literary website that was launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and '' Electric Literatur ...

, the book received a "positive" consensus, based on twelve critic reviews: five "rave", four "positive", two "mixed", and one "pan". In Books in the Media, the book received a score of 4.78/5, based on six critic reviews. In the May/June 2018 issue of '' Bookmarks'', the book received an average score of 4 out of 5, with the critical summary saying, "Despite these flaws, an unforgettable book". 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 *2019: Outstanding Books for the College Bound *2019: Westover chosen by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine as one of the 100 most influential people 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 American Booksellers Association * Finalist for the John Leonard Prize from the

National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization (501(c) organization, 501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the N ...

* 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

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

's Discover Great Writers Award * Long-listed for the Carnegie Medal of Excellence * Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Autobiography * Winner of the Audie Award for Autobiography/Memoir * Apple's Best Memoir of the Year *

Audible Audible may refer to: * Audible (service), an online audiobook store * Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks * ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player * Audible finish or ru ...

'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'', ''

O, The Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. In 2021, Winfrey and Hearst rebranded it as ''Oprah Daily''. Overview It was first pu ...

'', ''Time'', NPR, ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', '' The San Francisco Chronicle'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', ''

The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'', '' The Skimm'', ''Bloomberg'', '' Real Simple'', '' Town & Country'', ''

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment or wire frame used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skir ...

'', ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', '' The Library Journal'', Book Riot, and the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

. * Featured speaker, Seattle Arts & Lectures, 2019

References

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