Educated is a memoir about a young woman--Tara--who grew up in a survivalist Mormon family in the Idaho mountains. Tara's father is so extreme, his fellow Mormons discount his beliefs, such as that milk is sinful. He was also convinced the world would end with the beginning of the year 2000. Tara's father mistrusts public education and modern medicine, and does his best to keep his family isolated on the mountain where he grew up.
With assistance from her brother Tyler, Tara teaches herself enough math, grammar, and science to take the ACT. She begins her education at Brigham Young University and later attends Cambridge and Harvard.
In addition to her formal education, which includes a PhD, Tara learns to break away from the toxic members of her family who attempt to gaslight her to achieve her own selfhood.
Westover is a gifted writer: her descriptions are rich and vivid. Her writing helped me understand a life so different from my own. Maybe that's a description of a gifted writer.
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