Title: Educated
Author: Tara Westover
Publication date: 2018
Format: library e book on kindle
Source: book club read for 2026 recommended by a member
When I read books on Kindle and/or audio from my Library app, I return them right after I finish. I can't really flip through the pages to reflect on what I've read as easily which makes it a bit difficult sometimes to recall certain key standouts.
I remember feeling that the first chapters felt very magical and descriptive (even though there was a tone of sadness which is overarching throughout the whole book even though the reader doesn't yet realize how dark the narrative will get later on in the story.)
This is a memoir about the author's childhood growing up on in rural Idaho. Her father (parents) might be considered extreme Mormon fundamentalist survivalist types. She was born in 1986. For the most part she and her siblings never attended public school, had formal government documentation, or did conventional doctoring.
This in and of itself might be considered shocking to some. Not to me so much. I grew up in some ways very similarly to Tara - thankfully minus mental illness, cruelty, and such extreme isolation; but in other ways, I could imagine her life perhaps much better than some others.
My family was self employed like her. We relied on each other for our primary source of socialization. This was a very positive experience for me (sadly unlike the author.) Also in common - Tara had certain natural elements in her home landscape that were anchors of identity in her mind and story. She frequently references the mountain "Buck's Peak" and a rock formation known as "The Indian Princess." I related to that a lot. I felt that key nature images of my home landscape were as much a part of me almost as my family members: the rock formation we called "the Monkey Face", the canyon to the southwest we called "the Reyes", and many other trees, canyons, streams, and so forth which were contexts in which my imagination flourished as a child. (I was in a safe environment where nature explorations were not where I went to hide (although maybe some of that) but were encouraged as part of learning, play, and work.)
Like Tara, my Dad maintained a stretch of our phone line when I was a kid meaning that when there was a storm, it didn't work for awhile. We had a generator for power and also used kerosene lamps sometimes. We homeschooled (although not for our entire education) and were involved with helping with the family business. Like many rural westerners, we maintained a healthy cynicism about anything government related and tended to rely more on ourselves and/or other community members rather than professional or government support. We also were conservative religiously and held to fundamentalist beliefs in many ways.
That's pretty much where the resemblance ends. As the story progresses, Tara slowly reveals the deep dysfunction, fear, illness, and disconnect that characterized her childhood in many ways. Her story is very sad and there are deeply disturbing parts. I kind of felt like sometimes when you see something horrible on the news and you are repelled but you can't take your eyes off the screen because you're so morbidly curious. There are episodes of physical and psychological cruelty, but it is also a tribute to human tenacity and her spirit shines through as she overcomes many obstacles in order to go away to college, become a scholar, and eventually forge a new life.
I think one of the most interesting parts of the story is how Tara had to re-invent herself as a young adult. I can kind of relate to that in that when you grow up in a rural lifestyle, there is kind of a learning curve to normal suburban or urban life that is very different. Things like going to the doctor or figuring out how to travel, what to wear, and also filling in cultural gaps that might exist (in her case because of not studying history) (in both of ours not having television).
I think as a reader, parent, daughter, one of the most painful parts of the story are her repeated attempts to reconcile with her parents and assist her siblings. It shows how deep-rooted is the desire to have an intact relationship with our tribe no matter how far we physically and spiritually move away from them. Just as a literary aside, I sometimes felt that the voice was very distant and numb in the recounting. Not sure if I'm just intuiting a survival mechanism employed by the author in the process of which she endured which leaked over into her storytelling. Not sure.
Sharing this story must have taken a lot of courage and I hope that in sharing, she has found healing and also a community of people who might also discover needed solace and connection.
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