Educated (2018) is in the same broad genre as Hillbilly Elegy, a tale of an individual’s struggle to move beyond the context and control of their family of origin. It shares many of the same strengths and weaknesses.
On the one hand, the books are very compelling: Tara Westover‘s recognition of the issues in her family of origin, and her increasingly desperate efforts to escape from those impacts, make for good reading, especially given how strong her writing is.
On the other hand, these narratives also function as cultural tourism: part of their success is embedded in the ways in which their protagonist exists in a foreign land, one that is hard for “us” to conceive of, and the general arc is one of escape from that locale into “where we are.” That’s … problematic.
The point here is that, beyond their being hardcore Mormon isolationists in rural Utah, the contours of Westover’s struggles are not all that unusual: a domineering and controlling parent and rampant emotional, mental, and physical abuse resulting in very limited options being available to her and her siblings. This happens everywhere–even if it is often independent of a narrative tied to the End of Days–and by seeing it as happening “out there,” it becomes far too easy to ignore the noises next door.
That, of course, is an argument about reception not about Educated itself. I don’t begrudge Westover an ounce of her very hard-earned success. I just wish narratives like this led to more discussions of universality, and less of a sense of individuals/groups being exotic.
It is notably unfortunate that her violently abusive sibling, who is described as having committed many felonies in his treatment of his family and romantic partners, remains untouched at the end of the book. I hope that has changed since its publication.
All that said, the book is a good read, and is especially fascinating in the evolving role of Westover’s mother, and the way she navigates her agency through the interactions between her husband and their offspring, cast against an increasingly successful, increasingly dubious New Age health practice.