All Characters Tara Westover Gene Westover / Dad Faye Westover / Mother Shawn Westover Charles Tyler Westover Richard Westover Luke Westover Grandma-down-the-hill Grandma-over-in-town Professor Steinberg Dr. Kerry Audrey Westover Emily Westover Stefanie Westover Erin Robin. 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. That she refused to see reality, choose shawn over westover, talks about dad being mentally ill, Emily being bullied by shawn, telling Westover she is the only one who can handle Shawn, she is a stronger woman now, and that she should have protected Westover as well, as she was her child.

1-Page Summary 1-Page Book Summary of Educated

Educated is the autobiographical story of Tara Westover’s journey from being the child of extreme anti-government, anti-science, and religious fundamentalist Mormon parents to becoming a Cambridge- and Harvard-educated PhD.

Born in her family’s isolated home in the mountains of Idaho, Tara was denied a proper education as a child. Her father, Gene, believed that public schools were a tool of the “socialist” U.S. government, meant to “brainwash” people. As such, he kept his children out of school and relegated them to a dubious homeschooling curriculum designed by his wife, Faye, who lacked any proper credentials for educating children. There were no tests or exams at Faye’s rudimentary school, and Tara mostly learned to read and write by studying the Holy Bible and theBook of Mormon. Because of this, Tara had enormous gaps in her knowledge—she barely knew the basics of elementary math and was deeply ignorant on key historical facts about the U.S. and the world.

Her father was also deeply hostile to what he termed the “Medical Establishment,” believing that modern medicine was a plot cooked up by the government to poison people. A key part of his religious fundamentalism was his belief that God had provided all the medicine one would ever need in the form of natural herbs. He and his wife were committed to homeopathy, alternative medicine practiced in the home.

Faye believed herself to be a gifted healer, far more effective than any actual doctor (though she lacked any medical training). Thus, the family treated colds, sore throats, and even severe cuts, bruises, burns, and concussions with homemade concoctions of lobelia, skullcap, and eucalyptus. Hospital visits were simply out of the question. As Tara recalls, these remedies were almost never effective and they subjected her and her siblings to needless and easily-preventable suffering throughout their childhood.

When she was a teenager, Tara began to be abused by her older brother Shawn. On several occasions, he beat her, dragged her across rooms by her hair, stuck her face in the toilet, and even broke her wrist, toes, and ankles. Tara was tormented by the abuse and manipulated into believing that it had been her fault. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given their patriarchal worldview and deeply anti-feminist beliefs regarding women’s sexuality and role in the home, Tara’s parents turned a blind eye to Shawn’s violence and...

During a presentation at Roots Tech about writing histories my sister-in-law shared some direction the presenter gave about writing history of family members with less-than-sterling details in their lives. The presenter urged family historians to “do no harm” when writing histories.

This spurred considerable discussion between us. It is a thought that continues to trouble me.

Educated Westover Family

Every family is going to have their share of horse thieves, children born out of wedlock, and records of family members found in jails and insane asylums.

Do we skip over such facts out of respect for the idea of “do no harm”?

This as a growing problem in a lot of family histories I see and it swings both ways. There is a tendency to over-glorify accomplishments in the lives of some ancestors or to simply omit significant yet unflattering aspects of their stories.

I believe this is all wrong.

Let me share an ongoing family story of some sensitivity going on in the media right now before our very eyes to illustrate what I’m saying.

A couple of months ago I was drawn to a book I saw on Amazon called “Educated”.

It piqued my interest for two reasons. It purports to be the memoir of a homeschooled child whose story takes her from an isolated Idaho location all the way to Cambridge. This interested me because we homeschooled our children for many years, a decision that remains embroiled in some controversy and regret to this day.

The second reason it interested me was because of who authored it. The book was written by Tara Westover.

Anyone named Westover from Idaho has to be a fairly close relation. (Though I admit I don’t know yet what our connection is).

Tara’s book has raced to the top of the New York Times Bestseller list and has placed her in front of worldwide media. Her story has been described as a “brutal, one-of-a-kind memoir”, a tale of her upbringing in a survivalist family with elements of abuse against a background of “fundamentalist Mormonism” and an anti-government mindset.

I haven’t read the book yet.

But I have seen or listened to many of Tara’s interviews, describing for herself the conditions of her upbringing and the education she has gained in the halls of learning after she left her home and family.

Living as we do in Cache Valley we frequently get asked about other Westover families that have been here for generations.

Until recently, I did not recognize one of the Westover names many have mentioned to us many times before in our five years of living here. They are, as it turns out, the names of Tara’s parents.

They operate a popular business in south east Idaho, not far from where we live, and many people here in Cache Valley know them, though we do not.

In a local paper this week we read with some interest a public response Tara’s parents have delivered via their lawyer to the media. As you might expect, they have taken great exception to Tara’s representation of their parenting and her upbringing.

All of this, of course, will remain available for the world and the descendants of this branch of the Westover family for generations to come.

It is a rare thing. Unlike most people, past and present, there will be a record left of the same events presented through different sets of eyes.

They do not agree.

In a way, I am a bit envious of this fact. The records these Westovers are leaving is far more honest than I think most histories ever get.

I do not doubt Tara’s story. In fact, I believe her story has tremendous value because it is a first person account. It is her view. It happened to her. It is her story.

I also do not doubt the few things said by her parents. They have their view and it is no less valuable than Tara’s.

That’s history. Sometimes history is hard.

While you would hope for family harmony in all things I doubt you would ever find the same events told the same way by everyone that was there. Is that the point of history anyway?

Family relationships are complicated. The stuff-of-life is the reality we all live and generations rarely agree in upbringing and remembrance.

For my money, whether it is my history or anyone else’s in my family, I’d rather have the truth.

Why do I bring this all up?

Fear. Concern. And truth.

Over the course of the next several months I will be posting more on the life of Albert Smith. It contains far deeper elements than I anticipated.

His is a long and complicated story. I have details to share that I believe not many know about. I certainly didn’t know about them from all I had heard and read over the years before I engaged in active, substantive research of his life.

To fully communicate and understand the story I feel there is some background that is needed on some very difficult topics.

Polygamy. Blood Atonement. The Mountain Meadows Massacre. Danites. The Adam-God theory.

Adoption. Rape. Infidelity. The founding of the Relief Society.

Joseph Smith. Emma Smith. Wilford Woodruff. Daniel H. Wells.

Interested?

Yes, it is an interesting story.

It is a story of heartbreak, a story of redemption, and a story of goodness, faith and hope that will bring you to tears (well, it had that affect on me).

Truth does that.

It is vital in recounting the history of ourselves and of our ancestors. Truth is what teaches the real lessons.

Albert Smith left an incredible record spanning 50 years of his life and much of it was written in his own hand.

But he did not tell the full story.

How I wish others around him – eye-witnesses with their own take on the situation – had left a record too.

Educated Tara Westover Family

It would have helped us arrive at the truth – and thus the real lessons – far sooner than we have.

Educated Westover Family Business

Stay tuned.