Educated

The ferocity of the human spirit slays me. That is the thought I kept returning to as I (finally!) read Tara Westover's memoir, Educated. Growing up amidst her father’s junk pile in Idaho, Tara never set foot in a public school or a Doctor’s office. Instead, she spent her childhood preparing for whatever end of the world scenario her father feared was coming, and helping her mother make the tinctures and oils she used in her career as a midwife. Along with living through this survivalist upbringing, Tara also endured horrible abuse by an older brother as her parents pretended not to notice. Westover’s resilience, her quest for knowledge, and her extraordinary bravery got her into BYU, Cambridge, and Harvard. But the hardest lesson she learns through the course of this book is how to save herself. This book is shocking, deplorable, and fascinating beyond belief.