Educated : A book Review

I came across Educated by chance. A family friend worked for Penguin delivery services and often the staff are given books which he didn’t read and would give to us. So, on our bookshelf, I plucked this book. At the time, I was actually studying to become a teacher myself, so I suppose the title drew me in due to my current interests.

Not knowing what to expect, I was completely compelled by Westover’s accounts of her childhood, the methods they were taught during home school, and most remarkedly (spoiler) that Westover’s mother didn’t know when she gave birth to her. Overall, I was genuinely surprised at how insistent the children were to self-educate and how quickly Westover had absorbed the knowledge which later led her to become the scholar and writer we know today.

Synopsis:

A young girls quest for a new life through education, after years of social isolation living with a Mormon survivalist family. Tara grew up with a father who was against the government, consistently preparing for the end of the world, canned fruit, and helped him with dangerous chores. The reader follows her as she seeks to be educated which takes her to incredible places, where she becomes a scholar and takes control of her own fate.

Educated Book Review:

Like many, I could not put this book down. The writing was gripping, captivating, and honest. Often, the writing was so terrible and flabbergasting that I found myself dumbfounded from time to time. We are taken on her journey, through the perspective that she remembers having as a young girl to an adult. The innocence and ignorance is vivid as she accounts her life as a Mormon survivalist alongside her father who shields them from modern technology and science. Including hospital. We follow her point of view, we watch it transform as she does, through study and experience as she develops into a young woman. By doing so, Westover has shown us her love towards her family despite the hold they had on her, and the power she needed to break free of their control. Although many may not had an upbringing as her, the sense of wanting to belong but make your own path may be relatable to many.

“It’s strange how you give the people you love so much power over you”

Educated by Tara Westover

Most interestingly, I was pulled in by the notion that the children chose to read and learn, and later use this to further their education and life. Westover demonstrated fearful intellect as she absorbed knowledge which propelled her to get scholarships at world renown Universities, and not only this, but to be singled out by professors for her work. This point and fact is what I believe many people have mentioned in their own reviews, including Bill Gates, who are completely in awe by her ability to learn so quick.

As a reader, I cannot help but question the education system after reading this memoir, where a girl was given a choice. There is such a huge argument on the effectiveness of home school vs institutional schools often funded by the government or privately. Here, it was a passion and desire for change that triumphed over continuity and the familiar. Is it possible to give young people the choice? To start school later? To experience the world, before taking on so many subjects? Or is Westover’s case unique? What does it take to be educated?

This is a book I would like to read again, in fact, I have read that her mother has published a book: Educating by LaRee Westwover which offers an alternative perspective in response to her daughters memoir.