They homeschooled, which wasn’t a popular choice when they were raising children. Why do they emphasize these points? Because they often did and still do their own thing. They’re also proud that they don’t travel “the middle of the road,” doing things as many others do. It says so in huge font on the back cover and is a pronounced theme throughout the book. In her self-published memoir, LaRee and her husband, Val, make a point of telling us they are different, and they’re not afraid to be different. Other content, however, is he-said, she-said and is noted with asterisks and tiny print or is admittedly retold from conversations with relatives later in life. She also references her journal writings. Some of what she shares is fact and can be proven. And yet I believed Tara must be telling the truth–at least to some degree. I was dumbfounded, perplexed, sad, and shocked. Suddenly, I knew the book was about my community and possibly involved people I knew the book became more personal and I wondered, Was the abuse I was reading about possible in such a tight-knit community? Why would a family from my religion do such things? I had so many questions. No town has a theatre with that awful name except Preston, Idaho! Imagine my surprise, when at about two o’clock in the morning (yes, I couldn’t put the book down), I read “Worm Creek Opera House” on page 85. Tara’s book doesn’t clearly identify the setting as Clifton. I knew nothing more about the book.Īs soon as it arrived, I started to read and kept noticing similarities to my own hometown and wondered where everything was taking place. You might imagine I quickly clicked the book link and ordered my copy as my interest was definitely piqued. Mormon is the nickname of my religion: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When Educated first published I found reference to it online and read the tag about it being a true story of a Mormon from Idaho. These mutual friends have expressed concern that the memoir isn’t fully truthful and have asked me to take a look at both sides of the story. As you might anticipate, however, the Westovers and I know some of the same people, several of whom have reached out to me since Tara first published her book. Surprisingly, we don’t know each other and have never met. The distance is about 12.5 miles, a 16-minute drive in southeastern Idaho. I grew up in the nearby community of Preston, Idaho (population 5,501 in 2018). To give you some perspective of the setting where both books take place and why I’m very much interested in them, you need to know that the Westovers are from Clifton, Idaho (population 301 in 2018). Like many of you, I read Tara’s memoir, Educated, a couple of years ago and re-read it right after reading LaRee’s book–in preparation for this review. Is it all true? That’s what I really wanted to know when I agreed to read LaRee’s memoir. Mother LaRee Westover has recently authored her memoir, Educating, to “tell the story of my life as I really lived it and not in the dramatically fictionalized way others, based on my daughter’s book, are telling it for me.”Ĭlick image to buy your copy of Educated. In fact, they dispute much of what’s been written about them. See my disclosure policy.Īs you might imagine, from a parental and sibling perspective, Tara’s family is upset with the book being printed, with the story being told. ![]() At no cost to you, I may receive a small commission from purchases. Note: This article contains affiliate links. It’s labeled as a memoir, a story of childhood abuse and the author’s remarkable rise in education, eventually earning her PhD despite a lack of formal education in her home growing up. As of February 2020, it’s been on the New York Times best-seller list for two years and has been translated into 45 languages. Many of us have read Educated, a memoir by Tara Westover, published by Random House. There are two sides to every story, and yet there can still be few answers to discern the truth.
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