Educated by Tara Westover

Tara Westover grew up preparing for the end of the world. She was never put in school, never taken to the doctor. She did not even have a birth certificate until she was nine years old.

At sixteen, to escape her father’s radicalism and a violent older brother, Tara left home. What followed was a struggle for self-invention, a journey that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one’s life through new eyes, and the will to change it.

---

Tara Westover’s memoir, Educated, is my latest book group read.  It’s one that I remember hearing about when it was first published, but I don’t think it’s a book that I would have picked up were it not a book group selection.  While I can’t say that I enjoyed it per se (it’s not that kind of book) I did find it fascinating, thought-provoking, and inspiring.  Tara shares her story brilliantly – the tone is quite matter of fact, despite how bad some of it, and she shares her experiences of abuse – mental and physical – without referring to them as such. 

While Tara maintains a relatively neutral tone throughout, I felt a lot of emotion while reading Educated and it made me exceptionally angry at times.  I don’t think that was the author’s intention, but that was my overwhelming reaction to much of this book.  Tara and her siblings suffered a great deal because of the views of their father, a man who was against anything relating to the government, and who believed that all ills would be cured by God and natural remedies or not at all.  A controlling and unpredictable man, Tara suffered directly as a result of his extreme views and only through her own determination (and a little encouragement from one of her older brothers) was she able to escape the abusive household in which she grew up.

Tara’s father expected his children to work in his scrapyard, often operating dangerous machinery with no training or protective gear.  Accidents occurred frequently, some more serious than others, and their mother – a self-taught herbalist and midwife – treated these wounds.  She did at least understand the importance of avoiding infection, although one wonders how much pain was experienced that could easily have been reduced by commonly available analgesics.  Doctors were sought in only the most dire of circumstances, and never willingly consulted by her father.  

Tara’s father was not the only bully in her life.  One of her older brother’s also proved to be violent, manipulative, and demanding – to Tara and her sister, but also to his girlfriends and eventually his wife.  Tara experienced this first hand, and despite his apologies after each event, it’s obvious to all that there will always be a next time.  I had initially seen Tara’s mother as a potential confidante and someone who might support her, and yet she witnesses her son’s violence to those around him – including her daughter – and does nothing to intervene.  In reporting this behaviour to her father, Tara was not believed, and it felt that, as a female child, she would never be taken as seriously as her male siblings.  The gaslighting that takes place here is shocking as she is essentially given the choice of admitting to lying or becoming estranged from her family. 

Tara and her siblings were never sent to a traditional school, and their “homeschooling” was an absolute farce.  What she has achieved in her life is impressive by anyone’s standards, and all the more so for that upbringing.  She taught herself the basics in order to obtain a place at the Brigham Young University – that in itself a challenge – and from there was selected for a program at Cambridge.  Her journey is nothing short of miraculous.  I enjoyed her gradual realisation that she could choose her own path in life and that her parent’s way was not the only option available to her.  Her beliefs are ingrained from a young age, and it’s an effort to simply unlearn the views that she was brought up with as she becomes more exposed to different perspectives and experiences.  It’s an inspiring journey – difficult, but ultimately rewarding.

I have to admit that a lot of this book read like fiction to me.  That’s not to say that I felt it was fabricated or exaggerated at all – I don’t believe that for one moment – but that Tara’s experiences are so far removed from my own, and often so hard to stomach, that I struggled at times to remember that this is a memoir.  The casualness with which she mentions being around guns from a young age (yeah, I know – America), not having a birth certificate, being homeschooled (or not, as it turned out), having no medical records, not even knowing her official date of birth are facts that seem stranger than fiction.  I had to keep reminding myself that this is a memoir, and that repeatedly brought home just how bad some of her experiences were. 

Educated is a fascinating read – one that is thought-provoking and inspiring as well as showcasing the damage that can be done by those with extreme views and particularly when they enforce those views on others.  To have gone through so much, and believing that many of those experiences were normal (as her only frame of reference) is shocking, and I loved reading of her achievements in spite of her upbringing.