June 2019 Host:  Sarah

Educated by Tara Westover

Summary

This is a true story of a woman growing up off-the-grid with no birth certificate or education in a survivalist family in rural Idaho.  Some members of the family are violent and some mentally unstable.  The father inflicts his madness and violence on the family and a brother inflicts his brutal terrorism on members of the family.  Some of the seven siblings try to flee this madness but often fail.  This novel is at times difficult to read as she recalls terrible accidents at her father’s scrapyard, on the highway, and at construction sites.  Eventually the author goes to college and for the first time learns about the civil rights movement, feminism, and the holocaust.  She struggled to learn the simplest skills of being a college student but eventually goes on to earn her Ph.d.  She continues to love her parents and struggles to understand the huge differences between herself and her deranged and domineering father as well as her brother and mother who played dominant roles in her upbringing.  Although at times disturbing, this book gives you much to think about and will stay with you for a long time.

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