Educated: A Memoir
By Tara Westover
Random House, 334pp
Tara Westover, born to a Mormon fundamentalist family in 1986, received no formal schooling but taught herself enough to enter college, eventually earning her PhD in history at the University of Cambridge.
Her memoir, "Educated," however, is not just a cliched story of how education opens doors. The core of this book is how she struggled in a relationship between a child -- herself -- and the toxic parents who believed their negative behaviors were actually for the sake of the child. Facing the history of herself and her family, she gains the power to leave. Education is the means.
This is the rough outline of the memoir. There are many jaw-dropping episodes about her unusual upbringing in the mountains of Idaho, and even after she leaves home, which are best left for the book itself to reveal.
Readers may also be struck by the strong characters in the family.
Her father, Gene, believed the school system was a ploy by the government to brainwash children. Even when he and other family members suffered life-threatening injuries, he did not allow them to seek medical help, saying doctors were part of a government conspiracy. Only his wife, Faye, was allowed to treat them using her own healing methods. Gene, who the author thinks most likely suffered from bipolar disorder, imposed his ideals on the family in preparation for the "End of Days."
Westover's brother, Shawn, is described as a cruel abuser. As she grew older, he started abusing her verbally and physically, such as by injuring her toes and wrist, grabbing her hair, pushing her head into the toilet, and threatening to kill her with a knife. Tara's older sister and Shawn's wife are among the victims of his abuse.
The amount of space Westover devotes to her brother's abuse in the book gives the idea that one purpose of writing it was to expose his violence.
Despite her bitter complaints, her parents closed their ears to her cries, and tried to lead her to believe her memories were fake -- which drove her to profound despair.
Her mother is quite a character. Her life alone could be the basis of a novel. Faye served Gene submissively most of the time, but the memoir suggests that, in reality, she was a determined and obstinate person: "Mother didn't always agree with Dad."
Faye started earning money to support the family by gaining midwifery skills, and establishing herself as a renowned herbalist. She used the money to install a phone line against her husband's will. Without asking Gene, she got birth certificates for all of the children, and also encouraged Tara to go to college.
She treated the family's injuries with her own methods of energy healing and herbal remedies, which eventually led to a family business of selling related products, and becoming "one of the largest employers in the county."
The question remains why such a determined and successful person rejected her daughter's pleas and allowed Shawn to abuse Tara.
A memoir tends to be a one-sided story. But even if there is some exaggeration in "Educated," it is true that her character was partly shaped by growing up among such intense personalities. The basis of Westover's present self is her past history, which is deeply related to her family -- whether she likes it or not.
-- By Yukiko Katsumi
Japan News Staff Writer
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