Educated by Tara Westover

Educated is proof that the power of the human spirit to achieve what it can’t even imagine to be possible, does exist. This is a memoir of such a spirit – of a young girl named Tara growing up on an Idaho junkyard, to a family of ultra-strict and conservative Mormon beliefs who don’t trust the government. This means no birth certificates (because she and the rest of her six siblings were born by a midwife); no formal education (they were primarily home schooled); no western medicine, no hospitals and no welfare. The beginning of Tara's life was extremely dismal and confining, with social interactions being limited to her immediate family and grandparents. Against all odds, this unlikely protagonist and some of her siblings were able to obtain books and learn about the world beyond their somber existence. With the help of those who acknowledged her keen mind and unwavering determination, Tara managed to attend BYU, Cambridge and Harvard University, but not without testing familial love and devotion.