I had been wanting to read Educated, by Tara Westover for some time, so seized the day when the same friend who loaned me Songbirds offered her copy to read.

Many of you may already know the book and/or have read it yourself, but for those that don’t and haven’t, the backcover synopsis is as follows:

“Tara Westover and her family grew up preparing for the End of Days but, according to the government, she didn’t exist. She hadn’t been registered for a birth certificate. She had no school records because she’d never set foot in a  classroom, and no medical records because her father didn’t believe in hospitals. 

As she grew older, her father became more radical and one of her brothers more violent. At sixteen, she knew she had to leave home. In doing so, she discovered both the transformative power of education, and the price she had to pay for it.” 

The memoir covers Ms Westover’s (hereafter Tara’s) childhood, family and community life, and the subsequent process of separating herself from her family through an education that traversed Brigham Young University, Trinity College Cambridge, and Harvard. In terms of the price Tara has to pay, that is less for the education, which is basically accepted by the family, than it is for wanting the family to address the physical violence of one brother toward herself and her sister.

Memoir is by definition a personal account of an individual’s life and the events that form it. In that sense it will always be partial. Nonetheless, despite the difficult family circumstances, the author’s  recollections of the family are not one dimensional. Her parents, and particularly the violent brother, are shown in positive lights as well as the negative that grows as Tara herself gets older.

Although the violence is the obvious negative, I believe the parents’ (and most of the family’s) refusal to address it is equally disturbing—but far from unusual.

One of the elements that most stood out for me was just how long, and how complex, the process of self affirmation and separation from the abusive family circumstances was. It was far from as simple as leaving at sixteen, and that’s it, done. Tara kept returning home over many years, initially on university holidays and later for family events.

The difficulty of separation demonstrates just how strong the ties of family are, and also how coercive they can be, especially when tied to economic imperatives, such as maintaining a family business. Family and community are also deeply tied to our human sense of identity, and even when abusive, estrangement can be incredibly difficult to navigate and survive.

The fact that Tara Westover managed to do so, and has written and spoken so publicly about the experience, is testament to her courage. I also suspect it has taken a toll beyond what the book makes clear.

Although a memoir and personal recollection, given the nature of the material, I feel sure (after instances such as James Frey and A Million Little Pieces) it was extensively fact checked by the publisher prior to release. They would, quite rightly, have been wary of being sued for libel. So I feel reasonably confident that the substance of the memoir, particularly as regards the violence, the parents and many (but not all) family members closing ranks to protect the abuser, as well as the gaslighting, are substantially accurate.

Educated is not an easy read. In fact, I would call it emotionally harrowing in places, the more so for the writing being very ‘restrained.’ It is, however, extremely absorbing and very well written. I think the prologue may count as some of the most evocative and powerful writing I’ve read.

Educated has also won more awards and accolades than you can shake a stick at. Don’t believe me? (No, just joking, I’m sure you do. 🙂 ) A list is here.

So yes, I am recommending it. Not that I need to, really, with all those accolades and awards. 😀

I read a paperback edition, 377 pp,  published by Penguin Random House in 2018, on loan from a friend.