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Educated

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Selected as a book of the year by Amazon, The Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, New York Times, Economist, New Statesman, Vogue, Irish Times, Irish Examiner and RED Magazine.

The multi-million copy best seller.

A Book of the Decade, 2010-2020 (Independent).

Tara Westover and her family grew up preparing for the End of Days but, according to the government, she didn’t exist. She hadn’t been registered for a birth certificate. She had no school records because she’d never set foot in a classroom and no medical records because her father didn’t believe in hospitals.

As she grew older, her father became more radical and her brother more violent. At 16, Tara knew she had to leave home. In doing so she discovered both the transformative power of education and the price she had to pay for it.

From one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2019.

Shortlisted for the 2018 BAMB Readers' Awards.

Recommended by Barack Obama, Anthony Beevor, Blake Morrison and Nina Stibbe.

©2018 Tara Westover (P)2018 Random House Audiobooks Relationships Women Thought-Provoking Heartfelt Scary Inspiring

Critic reviews

"An amazing story, and truly inspiring. The kind of book everyone will enjoy. IT’S EVEN BETTER THAN YOU’VE HEARD." (Bill Gates)
All stars
Most relevant
I found this very shocking & sad at times.
I throughly enjoyed listening to the story of Tara’s life unfold.
I found it hard to understand how her father had such a hold over his children even after Tara had started a PHD her father still managed to cause problems in Tara’s mind.
A very brave lady, who managed to get herself an education of the highest level despite never attending a school.
I could not under stand why towards the end she felt she might have been guilt of wrong doing.
Sad thing us there are children today being raised in similar homes.

Wow

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Gripping, haunting, disturbing, frightening, inspiring, courageous, uplifting, honest, heart and soul - just some of the words that come to mind in this must read. The journey to realisation and self worth laid out in uncompromising honesty. A privilege to be allowed to share the journey of this remarkable person.

Outstanding

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Beautifully written and narrated, often painfully depicting a child, a family, abused, bulleyed and controlled under the cover of Mormonism. Shocking that such derranged minds could wield such power over their innocent families using threats and violence, hidden from the authorities under their cloak of religeon. Hard to know if the abusers were simply brainwashed into their psychopathy or were born warped and enjoyed the protection of their mormon enclave to carry out their sadistic rituals.
The book made me angry for the family members, who, while striving to be 'good' people gave power to evil men.
It's amazing to me that after the torture she suffered, mental and physical, the cruelty and rejection, the author still revered and loved her parents and sought their approval and affection. Making her the greater person.
It's always hard for those us who haven't experienced this sort of abuse to understand the control these abusers have, the guilt and self blame they instil into their victims.
At the end of it all, despite Tara's true goodness of heart and forgiving spirit, I do wish someone would grab that nasty old dad by the scruff and throw him and his psychopathic son Sean into goal and give them a taste of their own medicine!

Wonderful and thought provoking

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a breathless and humbling story of survival and phoenix like success. A clarion call for education and understanding of mental health.

a tinderbox life story

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A truly inspiring story of a life. Tara really gets to heart of what it takes to love a family but also what it takes to leave it, even if that leaving means coming back and examining it over and over as a part of the process of understanding. The miles she came in distance, thought and ideology is huge, makes for a un-turnoffable listen!

Fantastic

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