This is an autobiography that is gripping. Tara Westover grew up in an isolated area of Idaho. Her father did not believe in government, medicine, or education. As Mormons, they expected the girls to marry and have a family. The seven children were supposedly home-schooled, but there was not much education at all. Tara actually taught herself every chance she had, and eventually she passed the test to enter Brigham Young University on a scholarship.
The father of the family had a junkyard where the children worked in very dangerous situations and often were injured, because they had no instruction or supervision and they were working from a young age. The father was not only preparing for the end of the world, but he was also mentally ill. The mother would never go against the father. She was a midwife and she developed a large business making herbal remedies.The family was always in turmoil. There was abuse as well as neglect.
Tara eventually achieved a PHD. in History.
There is a lot of controversy about this book on the internet. I read comments made by her brothers, but who knows if it really was them speaking? There is even a letter from the family lawyer. But, a memoir is one person's experience and it is impossible for seven children to all have the same recollections and thoughts about their family. Tara was the youngest and also very bright.
My concern all the way through the book was, "Who could have changed the course of that family?" Because they lived in a remote area, I don't expect 'family and children services' was available, and any interference would have caused an uproar worse than the actual events. There were two sets of grandparents not too far away and it appears that they must have been aware of much of the family turmoil. I constantly wondered what they could have done.
The memoir is disturbing, but very well-written.
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