Educated Full Book Introdction

Educated

Educated Full Book Introdction

 

The protagonist of this book, Tara Westover, didn’t attend school until the age of seventeen. When she was finally given the chance, she pursued learning with an unusual determination. She went to college at Brigham Young University and later got a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, forever changing her fate. In this book, Westover recounts how she broke free from her family’s restrictions and changed her destiny one step at a time. This book became a New York Times bestseller soon after its publication. It was also Top 1 of Bill Gates’ book recommendations of 2018.

 

Author : Tara Westover

Tara Westover is an American author and historian. She was enrolled at Brigham Young University as a former homeschooler and got a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2008. Then she was admitted into Cambridge University, where she earned a Master of Philosophy in 2009 and a Ph.D. in history in 2014. In 2019, the publication of this memoir made her one of Time’s most influential people of the year.

 

Overview | Chapter 1

Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today we will unlock the book Educated: A Memoir.

 

In the mountains of Idaho, there was a family: a couple with their seven children, all of which were born at home, several of which who didn’t even have a birth certificate. The kids never went to school; neither did they see a doctor regardless of if they fell sick or were injured. The author and protagonist of this book, Tara Westover, was the smallest of the seven kids. Her father ran a junkyard, where Tara spent her entire childhood. There were no sounds of learning. Only the rumble of the crane. Tara didn’t set foot in a school before the age of 17. Instead she spent her days in fear, dreading the violence her brother Shawn, might inflict on her at any moment.

 

After growing up in such a toxic environment, Tara found an escape at Brigham Young university where she enrolled as a homeschooler. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2008. Subsequently, she was admitted into Cambridge, where she earned a Master of Philosophy in 2009 and a Ph.D. from Harvard in history in 2014. Educated: A Memoir, will tell you how Tara broke free from the confinement of her family and changed her life.

 

In this memoir, Tara Westover recounts in first person how she grew up and how she pursued learning. It shows us how education can provide infinite possibilities. Published in 2018, this is Westover’s first book, but it has been hugely successful ever since its debut. The book soon became No. 1 on almost every major bestseller list in the U.S., and Westover herself was listed among Time’s most influential people of 2018. Bill Gates highly recommended this book, saying, “she got me to reflect on my own life while reading about her extreme childhood…An amazing story, and truly inspiring. It’s even better than you’ve heard.”

 

Next, we’ll introduce the major content of this book through three parts. Together let’s see how Tara broke free from her family, reshaped herself through education, and eventually changed her fate.

 

Part One: Tara’s turbulent life before education;

 

Part Two: Receiving education and fighting her old beliefs;

 

Part Three: Reshaping herself with advanced education.