Book Review: Educated

Educated, by Tara Westover

If you are a fan of Where the Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens) or The Great Alone (Kristin Hannah) then I highly recommend this novel. The nonfiction version or a young woman whom modern day doesn’t touch, with a father figure that does more harm than good, and a sense of bravery in her obstacle ridden journey.

I wanted so very hard to believe this story was fiction at times. I felt the hurt in Tara’s heart, her bruises, the insecurity - it was all so raw and displayed so well. To be able to reflect on this monumental journey is no small thing.

In the proceedings of later versions of the Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood discusses her answers to questions about religion based on her books. Does she feel negatively toward religion, does she think it’s evil, etc. And these questions struck me so much after finishing the books. To ask the author such questions about religion, to me says so much about how you interpret it yourself. And these thoughts came up a lot during this book.

The view of religion, family, blood relatives, and love. How you have experienced these things, how you interpret them, what you expect from them. We are all so different. What is real about each to you depends on so many factors.

Tara’s relationship with her father and brother, when she attempts to make amends and find the good in them, it all breaks my heart. When she learns of the Holocaust and tries to make sense of fiction vs nonfiction at college, I felt the knot in my stomach form. The understanding of the world she grew up in and the world she would come to live in, seem to have no resemblance by the end of the book.

The perspective and glimpse this book gave me about all the topics I’ve mentioned has sat with me for a while. This review has been a few failed attempts as some of my heart and brain wrestle with it all.

This is an absolutely beautiful, brave, tragic, coming of age memoir. It feels wrong to rate or grade memoirs, but this is one of the best. A life journey so moving I do believe I will read it again one day.

My Synopsis: Tara Westover’s memoir begins with her upbringing to survivalists in Idaho, and ends with Harvard and Cambridge degrees. This heartbreaking and inspirational story about how a girl who didn’t attend school until she was nearly 20, with a limited view and exposure to the world would eventually succeed in it.

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