Book Review: (OT) Educated (Idaho, Mormon)

Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover (Random House, 2018, 352 pages, $28) One of the Ten Best Books of 2018, according to the New York Times, NPR, Time, the Washington Post, GMA . . . . And a NYTimes bestseller. Almost 6000 customer reviews on Amazon: 80% of them, 5-star reviews. ‘Nuff said?

Powerful Family Drama of Enablers

Set in Idaho. Written by a woman, one of seven children of survivalist Mormon parents, who never attended public school yet earned her PhD after Harvard and Cambridge and, of course, Brigham Young University (BYU). All things I know a lot about so, of course, I was more than intrigued. Especially since I was on the “Wait List” for Educated at my local public library for more than four months.

It was worth waiting for.

An intriguing tale of a young girl who taught herself algebra and geometry in order to pass the SATs (college entrance exams).

An Explosive 24-hour Read

It was worth waiting for. (Short chapters, how I love them!)

I even read this book wrong: I started at the beginning, then read a couple of chapters in the middle, then those at the end. Way before then, I was hooked and ended up near the beginning again. However, it might be better to read it all the way through: your speed will accelerate as you become mesmerized in Tara’s family and her life.

With four older brothers and an older sister, and one younger brother, the siblings seem to be split age-wise: one older brother rebels and is accepted by Purdue on the way to a PhD in Engineering while both Tara and her younger brother earn PhDs (her younger brother, in Chemistry). Perhaps it is a generational ‘thing’ that the more modern younger ones want to break away from the family dependence. Or perhaps just coincidence since the family is so isolated from anyone but family, anyone who thinks differently.

Age-old Dilemmas for Women

Should I pursue education if I lose my (dysfunctional) family in the quest? I was brought up on a mountain by fundamentalists who do not believe in doctors or the government: can I survive in a city, at a university? Will I ever be good enough? Will they ever forgive me for being different? What did I do to earn such physical abuse: is it my fault? What is the Holocaust? Do I still have a family, a home? Does a 20-something woman have enough to tell the world in a memoir? Why should I wash my hands after using the toilet if I don’t piss on my hands? Herbal medicine was good enough for my mother who became a midwife so how do you know when to go to a doctor when you are on your own?

Educated is not necessarily a book you will love but it will stay with you for a long, long time. That is the mark of a good book.