Educated

This is Westover's memoir of her childhood in Idaho, where Washington is far away and God very close. She was born into a family of Mormon fundamentalists. Her father is the family prophet who lives strictly by the Bible. Dairy products, medicine and hospital treatment are forbidden. Anything official is shunned. Her father does not believe in sending his children to school; the younger ones aren't even officially registered. From a very early age, each child has to help father Gene in his scrap metal business, involving long hours of dangerous work. It is from this environment that Tara gradually disentangles herself and, without any formal education, struggles her way to college. A moving story of an almost unbelievable accomplishment, told without sentiment.