Educated by Tara Westover - February 24th, 2020

Our February meeting was hosted by Janet.  Present were Beth, Betty, Colette, Janet, Marg, Michèle and Shirley. Janet had some excellent Canadian cheese,  sausage pastry rolls, vegetable pastry rolls and olives, wine and tea was served with a delicious dessert.

We discussed Betty's book choice Educated by Tara Westover.  This is a memoir of a young woman raised in Idaho in a survivalist family who shunned public schools, hospitals, doctors and anything governmental.  She was the youngest of 7 children and was partly home-schooled, learning to read from an older brother and then teaching herself, reading anything she could find.  The home environment was difficult and often violent.  Having managed to pass ACT exams, she was admitted to Bringham Young University left home and went on to complete a PhD.

In Educated Ms. Westover describes her family life detailing the abuse she endured from her older brother, the denial from her parents and her efforts to educate herself.  All thought the memoir was well written we all felt that it is not a pleasant read.  Besides her description of the land, there is little hope and light in her relay of family life.   It is a story of resilience and of conflict, of abusive ignorant parents who offered little or no support, love or affection.  She does sometimes question her recollection of events, comparing her memory to those of her siblings who are still talking to her.

There was some discussion of the similarities and differences with the novel we read in January Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens that for some of us did not seem based on reality. However, this memoir Educated has had some of use re-think our view of Delia Owens'  novel.  Some of us who read Jeannette Walls' memoir The Glass Castle see some similarities, parental neglect for example.

Ms Westover did a good job of moving forward in her story keeping the narrative a lot like a novel the place, the house, the community, very well written.  She describes how she kept going back, hoping to re-connect with family.  It shows how strong family ties can be no matter the circumstances.

Despite her difficult life and struggle to educate herself she has become a confident, bold assertive person. Her memoir essentially shows that she had to choose between her education and the life that it has opened up for her and her family.   Thank you Betty for suggesting this book that generated a good discussion.