Book of the Day: "Educated," by Tara Westover

Let this exceptional debut memoir inspire your next venture in life!

Welcome to the Book of the Day, a new feature for our Premium subscribers in which your GOTD team spotlights some of our favorite reading material - the mainstays of our personal libraries! We want to note that, while we wish God of the Desert Books could take credit for many of these favorites, they're in no way affiliated with us, and we're not earning anything by promoting them. Books of the Day are just honest-to-goodness recommendations: writing we like a lot and think you'll like, too.

Today's pick for Book of the Day is the astonishing memoir, “Educated,” by Tara Westover. You may have heard of this one: the story is so remarkable that, when the book came out in 2018, there was hardly a major outlet that didn't bring the writer in for an interview. I, myself, bought my copy while parked in Indianapolis traffic, as I listened raptly to NPR's Diane Rehm discussing with Ms. Westover her unique biography.

Why is it so unique? Well! “Educated” tells the story of how Tara Westover earned a doctorate degree from Cambridge University, despite having grown up isolated, abused, and held under a siege of disinformation in an Idaho household that practiced an unusual religion derived from mainstream Mormonism. Under these conditions, the author was not permitted to go to school - but she also wasn't homeschooled. Sure, her mother made attempts with her older children, but by the time Tara came along, she was exhausted, and she needed to put her time and energy towards supporting the growing family as they lived under Tara's father's rule.