Tara Westover is an American historian and memoirist. Her first book, Educated, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and remained on the list, in hardcover, for more than two years. The book, a memoir of her upbringing in rural Idaho, was a finalist for a number of national awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. To date it has been translated into more than forty-five languages. The New York Times named Educated one of the 10 Best Books of 2018, and the American Booksellers Association voted Educated the Nonfiction Book of the Year. For her staggering impact, Time named Westover one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2019. Westover holds a PhD in intellectual history from Trinity College, Cambridge, and in 2019 she was the Rosenthal Writer in Residence at Harvard University. In 2023, she was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Biden.
“Westover has somehow managed not only to capture her unsurpassably
exceptional upbringing, but to make her current situation seem not
so exceptional at all, and resonant for many others.”—The New York
Times Book Review
“Westover is a keen and honest guide to the difficulties of filial
love, and to the enchantment of embracing a life of the mind.”—The
New Yorker
“An amazing story, and truly inspiring. It’s even better than
you’ve heard.”—Bill Gates
“Heart-wrenching . . . a beautiful testament to the power of
education to open eyes and change lives.”—Amy
Chua, The New York Times Book Review
“A coming-of-age memoir reminiscent of The Glass Castle.”—O:
The Oprah Magazine
“Westover’s one-of-a-kind memoir is about the shaping of a mind. .
. . In briskly paced prose, she evokes a childhood that completely
defined her. Yet it was also, she gradually sensed, deforming
her.”—The Atlantic
“Tara Westover is living proof that some people are flat-out,
boots-always-laced-up indomitable. Her new book, Educated, is a
heartbreaking, heartwarming, best-in-years memoir about striding
beyond the limitations of birth and environment into a better
life. . . . ★★★★ out of four.”—USA Today
“[Educated] left me speechless with wonder. [Westover’s] lyrical
prose is mesmerizing, as is her personal story, growing up in a
family in which girls were supposed to aspire only to become
wives—and in which coveting an education was considered sinful. Her
journey will surprise and inspire men and women
alike.”—Refinery29
“Riveting . . . Westover brings readers deep into this world, a
milieu usually hidden from outsiders. . . . Her story is
remarkable, as each extreme anecdote described in tidy prose
attests.”—The Economist
“A subtle, nuanced study of how dysfunction of any kind can be
normalized even within the most conventional family structure, and
of the damage such containment can do.”—Financial Times
“Whether narrating scenes of fury and violence or evoking rural
landscapes or tortured self-analysis, Westover writes with uncommon
intelligence and grace. . . . One of the most improbable and
fascinating journeys I’ve read in recent years.”—Newsday
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