Educated
Tara Westover (2018)
“A woman who never set foot in a classroom until age seventeen earns a PhD from Cambridge — and must decide whether knowledge is worth the family it costs her.”
EraContemporary
Pages334
Difficulty★★☆☆☆ Moderate
AP Appearances3
Character Analysis
Westover is simultaneously the author, the adult narrator, and the child protagonist — three distinct consciousnesses in one name. As a child she is credulous, adaptive, and loving; her survival depends on accepting the world as given. As a young adult she is hungry, ashamed, and radically capable. As the adult author she is analytical, fair, and grieving. The complexity of any given scene depends on which Tara is speaking — and Westover manages all three with precision.