Educated
by Tara Westover · 2018
Tara Westover's take on memoir, the honest verdict is below.
Worth reading? A staggering memoir of escaping a survivalist family through education. Read it; it earns its acclaim. Skip only if you find accounts of family abuse too heavy. It's memoir, not a how-to despite the category.
| Author | Tara Westover |
|---|---|
| Published | 2018 |
| Category | Biographies & Memoirs |
| Favorite quote | “It's a strange thing to discover and admit, at the age of thirty-six, that some part of you is still a child.” |
The Verdict
A staggering memoir of escaping a survivalist family through education. Read it; it earns its acclaim. Skip only if you find accounts of family abuse too heavy. It’s memoir, not a how-to despite the category.
anyone weighing whether Educated belongs on their memoir shelf
you want a different angle than Tara Westover's
Top 8 Lessons from Educated
- Education can radically expand a world once kept small.
- Family loyalty and self-liberation can pull violently against each other.
- Memory is contested; truth within a family is fought over.
- Leaving a controlling environment costs relationships you love.
- Self-invention is possible but never clean or painless.
- Abuse is often normalized until you see outside it.
- Learning to think for yourself is its own kind of freedom.
- You can honor where you came from and still refuse to stay.
Top 4 Quotes from Educated
"It's a strange thing to discover and admit, at the age of thirty-six, that some part of you is still a child."
Tara Westover, Educated
"You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them. You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life."
Tara Westover, Educated
"Everything I had worked for, all my years of study, had been to purchase for myself this one privilege: to see and experience more truths than those given to me by my father, and to use those truths to construct my own mind."
Tara Westover, Educated
"My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs."
Tara Westover, Educated
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Educated worth reading?
Yes; it's a powerful, beautifully written memoir. Be aware it covers family abuse.
What is the main idea of Educated?
Westover's pursuit of education frees her from an isolated, abusive family, at great personal cost.
Who should read Educated?
Memoir readers and anyone drawn to stories of transformation and resilience.
Ready to read it?
Get Educated on Amazon
