Book Review - Educated by Tara Westover

One of my reading goals last year was to get out of my comfort zone. As a response, I picked up Educated by Tara Westover. It turned out to be one of the most talked about books in the year (even Barrack Obama loved it). I’ve reviewed memoirs only twice so far (located here and here) and they were both on some pretty sad topics. I think there’s something really special about the emotion in memoirs and this one is no different.

Tara Westover grew up in a Mormon survivalist family with strict religious ideals. Their faith in God was so strong that even in the face of pure danger, she could not understand her own feelings because it was believed that God took care of it. Her family lived a rural life and her father was a manipulating, cruel man. Despite all the bad moments her father created, there is so much love and loyalty in the family. We see the struggles Westover faces as she copes with sad situations and we see  the steadfast loyalty between siblings who have to survive together. Life for her and her family is often waiting for the next disaster to happen. When Westover makes a big step forward in life, something pulls her back in. Having never received formal education as a child, this is a story about Westover’s journey to educating herself and how education allowed her to look back on her survivalist years with a new perspective.

From the outset of the novel, the descriptions are outstanding. I could picture rural Idaho as if I was there. I quite enjoyed the element of Westover looking back and adding in an adult Tara’s reflections on the stories she chooses to tell. The interruptions of these reflective notes are what makes the story-telling so personal and profound. Westover creates moments of pure pride about the past as well as moments of pure confusion about the true accounts of the story. It is clear through this writing that although Westover is considerably more versed in the workings of the world now, she cannot escape the shackles of the past that influences her path in life. It is only through gaining formal education independently that she is able to gain perspective on how she used to live. 

Within the telling of the manipulations of her father, Westover also shares the story of the love for her brother and everything he did for her. Despite the strong bond between them, the years of cruelty circles back into other siblings who become just like the ones who hurt them in their childhood. I was shocked at how warped Westover’s sense of self was even when she started living a life outside of her family home. It is almost like she can't trust her own education and knowledge because she was told how to think by her father for so long. She has her own breakthrough that ignorance allowed her to accept how things back home were going without realising how earth-shattering those moments are. I love the idea of looking back into the past and reflecting on the almost alien ways you used to live. I found it amazing when the gravity of past life hits Westover in the narration. For Westover, this was about not only getting educated but finding a voice. For her, writing this memoir is the ultimate power over her past.

For the look at a different way of life and a great example of memoir, I give this book a 4/5.