Educated

What it's about

Tara Westover grew up on a mountain in Idaho with survivalist parents who didn't believe in schools, doctors or the government. She never had a birth certificate, spent her childhood working in her father's dangerous scrapyard and preparing for the end of the world, and was hurt again and again by an older brother no one would stop. At seventeen, having taught herself enough to pass the ACT, she left for college, and her education took her all the way to a PhD from Cambridge.

Why it's worth reading

It's an astonishing true story, but what makes it great is Tara's honesty about what it cost her: every step toward an education was a step away from the family she loved. It asks what we owe our families, and what we owe ourselves.

You'll love it if you liked

The Glass Castle, I'm Glad My Mom Died or Born a Crime

Good to know

There is family violence and serious injury described in detail. It reads like a novel, and most people finish it in a few days.