Local audiences have two rare opportunities in April to hear author Tara Westover give a free talk about her book “Educated,” which chronicles her path from her Idaho upbringing in a survivalist family opposed to education to earning a PhD in history.
Westover’s family believed in hard work and self-sufficiency – she helped stew herbs for her mother’s midwifery practice and did hard labor in her father’s junkyard – but they never let her attend school.
In “Educated,” Westover describes a home life that could be absorbing and enriching, but at other times that was frightening and abusive.
As Westover grew curious about the world outside her remote mountain home, she began to teach herself subjects from math to grammar, ultimately gaining admission to college. After learning about world events like the civil-rights movement and the Holocaust for the first time in college, Westover developed a passion for history. Her learning transformed her, taking her to Harvard and to Cambridge in England.
In “Educated,” her memoir about that journey, Westover explores the distance she traveled and what that meant for her relationship to her family.
“Educated” has been called “an amazing story, and truly inspiring” and “a one-of-a-kind memoir.” It earned a spot on many best-book lists in 2018.
North Central Regional Library (NCRL) is bringing Westover to the area on a whirlwind tour that includes stops in Florida, New York, England and Australia.
At the Twisp Public Library, people can participate in a discussion of “Educated” and then listen to a live-stream of Westover’s talk on Friday, April 13. The discussion is at 6:30 p.m., with the livestream of Westover’s talk (from Wenatchee) at 7 p.m. Refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Twisp Public Library.
On Saturday, April 13, Westover will present a live talk at the Omak Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m.
Both events, part of the library’s NCRL Reads program, are free.
