Tara Westover's farm upbringing featured unconventional schooling.

Tara Westover grew up on a farm in rural Idaho with her Mormon family, who had a very unusual approach to education. At seven years old, she enjoyed playing outside, surrounded by nature. The wind would blow through her hair, and she felt connected to the trees and wheat on the hills. Tara was the youngest of seven children, and although she had a carefree childhood, she knew her family was different. None of her siblings went to school, and Tara had never set foot in a school or a hospital. Because she was born at home, she didn’t have a birth certificate, which meant that, according to the state of Idaho, she didn’t officially exist.

Despite not attending school, Tara learned many things. She became skilled at bottling peaches in the summer and rotating them during the winter. She also understood the rhythm of the nearby mountain, Buck’s Peak, which her father, Gene, called the Indian Princess. While Tara’s father was fine with homeschooling, her grandmother thought Tara and her siblings should attend school. Gene believed that schools were used to brainwash kids and make them part of a socialist system.

One day, Tara's grandmother offered her a chance to leave with her to Arizona and attend school. Tara spent the night thinking it over, but when morning came, she decided to stay with her parents. Gene, besides being politically passionate, was deeply religious and believed a woman's place was in the home. This belief suited Tara’s mother, Faye, who also worked as an unlicensed midwife and was devoted to marriage and motherhood.

The Westover siblings self-taught and supported each other in school.

Tara and her siblings had an unconventional education. When Tara was four, her brother Tony taught her to read. Until she turned eight, their mom covered some math and history. After that, they were on their own. They learned whatever they could figure out themselves, with no tests. If Tara wanted to learn math, she'd glance at an old textbook. Sometimes, they'd spend afternoons at the local library, reading whatever interested them.

Tyler, the third son in the Westover family, was always the one who took the time to study. When he announced he was going to college at eighteen, Tara, ten years old at the time, began considering going to school too. Gene, their father, wasn't pleased with Tyler's choice. He needed help on the farm, especially since Tyler's older brothers had already left. Gene believed college wouldn't teach practical skills for family life. He feared Tyler might be influenced negatively by college ideas.

Tyler, despite his father's worries, did attend college, sparking Tara's curiosity about higher education. She began studying diligently, exploring religion through texts like the Book of Mormon and the New Testament, and writing essays on themes of faith and sacrifice. The idea of further education lingered in Tara's mind from then on.

Tara's initial job introduced her to the outside world.

At eleven, Tara saw her siblings leave home, leaving her father to shift from farming to running a junkyard. Tara pitched in, helping dismantle cars. She yearned for independence, so she started her own job. Riding her bike to the post office, she put up flyers offering babysitting services. Requests flooded in, keeping her busy from 8 a.m. to noon, Monday to Friday. Babysitting wasn't just about money—it opened Tara to a new world. She began taking voice, dance lessons, and even sang in local theater.

Tara started attending dance classes above a local gas station, encouraged by a mom she babysat for. Her father objected, calling dancing immodest. She switched to voice lessons, impressing churchgoers and landing a role in a local play. However, after the play ended, family life resumed normally. Meanwhile, as the year 2000 approached, her father's doomsday predictions intensified.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, there was widespread concern about the Y2K bug causing computer malfunctions as the year changed from 1999 to 2000. Gene, however, took it to another level. He believed it would trigger catastrophic events, so he spent years preparing an underground bunker with food and weapons in a field. When December 31 arrived, nothing happened despite his wild predictions.

Tara's family habitually avoids medical help and overlooks risks.

When Y2K arrived without incident, Gene's beliefs were tested. Seeking solace, the family visited Grandma in sunny Arizona. Their return drive, however, turned treacherous as they encountered severe weather, causing their van to skid off the road and crash in a field. Despite none of them wearing seatbelts, miraculously, everyone survived, though Tara briefly lost consciousness. Help eventually arrived, but Tara has no memory of how she got home. Remarkably, their family tradition shuns medical aid, even in emergencies like this.

Days after the accident, Tara was still in pain, experiencing frequent neck stiffness. Her family relied solely on spiritual healing and herbal remedies. This wasn’t their first car crash. Years ago, Tyler fell asleep at the wheel while driving back from Arizona. They crashed into a utility pole and a farming tractor. Once again, no one wore seatbelts, yet miraculously, no fatalities occurred. Faye bore long-lasting red and blue bruises on her face, along with persistent headaches and memory lapses.

Despite these serious injuries, they never considered seeking medical help. There was a recurring pattern of ignoring dangerous situations, especially involving her brother Shawn, who, despite his violent tendencies, faced no consequences By age fifteen, Tara began wearing makeup and enjoyed spending time at the theater with her friend Charles. One night, Shawn violently woke her, grabbing her hair and accusing her of inappropriate behavior. This wasn't the first time he'd attacked her, but her parents never took it seriously. Tara felt emotionally numb, convincing herself any tears were just from physical pain, and she kept repeating that to herself.

Tara needed to pass the ACT for college admission.

At sixteen, Tara faced uncertainty about her future. According to family plans, she would marry around eighteen or nineteen, settling on Gene's farm. There, her husband would build them a home. Tara would learn herbal healing and midwifery from Faye and start a family. However, Tyler suggested another path: college. He explained that Tara could take the ACT test to qualify. BYU, a Mormon college in Utah, welcomed homeschooled students like her.

Tyler's advice struck a chord with Tara, prompting her to start studying for the ACT test. Tara had paused her math studies after encountering long division, needing her mom's guidance to tackle algebra. Once she grasped that letters represented numbers, she spent months practicing basic equations and multiplying fractions. After two attempts, Tara achieved the score she aimed for.

Tara's Exam Journey

Tara felt very nervous before her first big test. It was a standardized exam, and she couldn't sleep the night before. She ended up scoring a 22, but she needed at least a 27 to get into BYU. She didn't give up, though. Tara studied hard, took the test again, and this time, she got a 28. She sent her score and application to BYU and, a few weeks later, received her acceptance letter.

But Tara's dad, Gene, didn't react well. He claimed that God had personally told him that going to college was a bad choice for Tara. Tara's mother continued to be supportive. Just three days before Tara's seventeenth birthday, Faye herself drove her daughter to BYU and saw her off on this significant occasion.

Tara felt out of place and struggled with college coursework.

When Tara moved to Provo, Utah, she didn't bring much from home—just twelve jars of canned peaches and a bag of clothes. Her new apartment, shared with two BYU students, gave Tara quite a surprise.

The first roommate she met was Shannon. Shannon greeted Tara in pink pajama bottoms and a tight white tank top with thin straps over her bare shoulders. When Shannon turned around, Tara was shocked to see the word "Juicy" written across her backside. Overwhelmed and scandalized, Tara hurried to her room for refuge.

Meeting her new roommate Mary wasn't as surprising as meeting Jane. But then Mary broke a major rule by going shopping on the Sabbath, which deeply upset Tara. When Mary came back and filled the fridge with a week's worth of food, Tara felt overwhelmed and retreated to her room. Living with these roommates made Tara feel like she was very different from everyone else. Provo itself added to her discomfort with constant noise, leaving her no quiet time. On her first attempt to take the bus to school, Tara ended up going in the wrong direction.

Tara's School Challenges

Tara's journey from the family farm to school was impressive. But once she got there, she faced new struggles. Her classes—English, American history, music, religion, and Western civilization—were all new to her. Even though they were introductory, Tara found them overwhelming. Her textbooks were full of complex terms like "civic humanism" and "Scottish Enlightenment" that seemed to swallow up all the words around them. Tara felt lost and confused in this sea of new knowledge.

Tara found her Western civilization class tough. She gathered courage to ask her teacher about a word she didn't know: "Holocaust." But her question was met with silence and confusion. Tara struggled with her first tests at BYU. Instead of giving up, she studied harder. By the end of the semester, she nearly earned straight As. The only exception was in Western civilization.

Tara learned to accept help amidst health and financial worries.

Tara returned to her Idaho home for her first semester break, where she had to help out in her father's junkyard. Unfortunately, one morning she woke up with a bad earache. Surprisingly, this pain taught Tara the value of accepting help when needed.

When Tara told her old theater friend Charles about her earache, he convinced her to take ibuprofen to ease her pain. Initially, Tara hesitated because she had always been warned by her parents about the risks of taking medicine

When any of the Westover children fell ill or had pain, they typically relied on herbal remedies mixed with water. Despite trying lobelia and skullcap extracts, the pain persisted. Finally, Charles offered her a simple solution: a glass of water with two ibuprofens. Surprisingly, just twenty minutes later, her earache disappeared completely! Yet, Tara still harbored a deep distrust of modern medicine.

Tara's Medical Journey

Tara developed a very sore throat later in the semester. Her roommate had to convince her for days before she finally agreed to see a doctor. Tara didn't know what to do before seeing a doctor, so her roommate had to take her to the clinic. After leaving the clinic, Tara went from being scared to curious, thinking, "Why was I so afraid?"

Tara's friends helped her overcome her fear of medical treatment, but it was the local church that provided financial assistance. College expenses, especially for textbooks, were high for Tara. Despite working several jobs, including as a janitor and at an ice cream parlor, she was still broke. This became critical when one of her teeth started decaying and she urgently needed an operation.

Tara stayed connected with her local church. When the bishop learned of her dental emergency, he offered financial aid, urging her to seek further assistance. Tara initially refused help, especially from the government, but the bishop's persistence eventually guided her toward accepting support

Tara learned about her father's obsessions after his accident.

At 19, Tara secured a student loan, allowing her to live independently without financial worries. This newfound stability enabled her to focus fully on her studies and continue her education.

As Tara learned more about the world, she also uncovered the truth about her father’s teachings. In her Psychology 101 class, she learned about bipolar disorder. When she saw the symptoms listed—like depression, mania, paranoia, euphoria, and feelings of being incredibly grand and persecuted—it struck her: these symptoms perfectly matched her father's behavior.

Gene harbored deep fears about the government and medical institutions, especially during the Y2K period. He swung from extreme highs of euphoria to deep lows of depression. Tara's realization prompted her to study bipolar disorder extensively, revealing how her family had been influenced by Gene's delusions.

Sudden Realization and Unexpected News

She realized with shock and anger that for years, she and her siblings had lived in constant fear because of his delusions. Then, surprisingly, she found out Gene had been in a serious accident.

Her sister Audrey called one morning with alarming news: a gas tank had exploded at the junkyard. Gene, refusing hospital treatment, was home and in critical condition. Tara could rush home to say goodbye before it was too late.

Tara hurried to her father's bedside and found him badly burned from an explosion: half of his face, hands, shoulders, and chest were affected. His heart had stopped twice that night, and everyone feared he wouldn't make it through. By morning, miraculously, Gene was still alive.

Tara got a great research chance leading to an amazing grad program.

Tara initially planned to study music in college. However, as each semester passed, it became clear that her real passion lay in history and politics. She eagerly enrolled in and anticipated these classes. Even her professors noticed Tara's enthusiasm in class. One of them eventually asked, "Have you heard of Cambridge?" Tara responded with a simple "Nope."

Tara’s professor mentioned the University of Cambridge in England, offering a study-abroad opportunity. With his encouragement, Tara applied and soon found herself at King’s College. Quite a leap for a girl from Idaho, who had been mostly homeschooled. Arriving at King’s College, Tara was struck by its old-fashioned charm. But there was no time for sightseeing; her first week was packed with lectures, each student paired with a professor to keep them focused on their research.

Professor Jonathan Steinberg's Surprising Praise

Tara worked hard on her essay with Professor Jonathan Steinberg, an expert on the Holocaust. He carefully checked every word and comma, believing that clear words lead to clear ideas. Despite expecting criticism, Tara was pleasantly surprised when Professor Steinberg praised her essay. After 30 years at Cambridge, he declared it one of the best he had seen.

Support from Professor Steinberg was pivotal for Tara. He assured her of admission to any graduate school she chose, leaving her pleasantly surprised. True to his promise, Tara received a scholarship for graduate studies at Trinity College, Cambridge University, right after graduating from BYU.

Thanks to Steinberg's endorsement, Tara became just the third BYU student to win the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship. This scholarship covered all her tuition fees and research expenses. Back in Idaho, Tara gained local fame, with school newspapers and TV stations eager to interview her.

Tara found belonging at Trinity but got troubling news.

Tara returned to Trinity College in England, amazed by its ancient beauty. This time, as a graduate student, she had her own room with her name on the door. For the first time, she felt she truly belonged, making friends and improving her social skills.

Tara started loosening up her strict upbringing. When a classmate invited her for coffee, she agreed, breaking her Mormon upbringing's taboo against coffee. She also tried wine for the first time, defying church rules again. On a trip to Rome with friends, Tara opened up about her family. She shared stories about their farm, junkyard, and her eccentric father, marking another step in her journey of self-discovery.

Family Crisis Unfolds

Back in Idaho, Tara received a troubling email from her sister, Audrey, regarding their brother Shawn. Tara never imagined Shawn would harm Audrey as he had hurt her. Yet, that's exactly what was happening. The family's tendency to ignore problems meant they hadn't taken any action.

Audrey planned to confront Shawn and their parents about a serious issue. She relied on Tara's support, knowing it might turn into a battle of words. Tara promised to stand by Audrey and safeguard their mother, Faye, while discussing Shawn with Gene. It was a tough situation ahead.

Meanwhile, their new family business was thriving. They had launched a range of healing oils that became incredibly popular. Another company offered Gene and Faye $3 million to buy them out. Gene, true to form, turned down the offer.

Tara excelled academically but grew apart from her family.

Tara was excelling in her studies at Trinity College, delving into books about feminism. Until now, she had only heard the term used negatively. In her upbringing, men were expected to lead, while women were confined to roles like childcare and cooking. But now, Tara was discovering new ideas that resonated with her childhood doubts about womanhood.

Tara approached Mormonism academically, not religiously, viewing it as an intellectual movement rather than a spiritual one. This unconventional study felt revolutionary to her. She received positive feedback for her research and was thrilled to learn she'd been accepted for a PhD program at Cambridge.

Back home in Idaho, tensions remained high. Shawn openly threatened Tara and Audrey when they confronted him, and their parents offered little support. Shawn even threatened Audrey's life, calling her names, and hurling a bullet at her.

Family Turmoil Over Threats

When Tara told Gene about the threat, he insisted on proof. Eventually, Tara managed to get Shawn and her parents to meet. However, Shawn used this chance to put a bloody knife in Tara’s hands, which was a clear threat to her. Gene then gave a lengthy lecture on faith and blessings for about two hours. It ended with Shawn and Tara hugging, but the peace didn’t last. When Tara returned to Cambridge, Shawn called her, threatening to kill her again. When Tara tried to involve her parents, Gene wanted proof and Faye didn't take it seriously. Tara’s parents felt her accusations against Shawn were tearing the family apart. They chose to support their son rather than protect their daughters

Tara faced a tough choice to earn her doctoral degree.

During her PhD research, Tara received a visiting fellowship at Harvard University. Her excitement quickly turned to dismay when her parents announced they were coming to visit her there. They even planned to stay in her dorm room, an aggressive move to assert control over Tara. This was their last attempt to manipulate her, but Tara had grown too independent to be swayed. Her father insisted she accept their beliefs or be considered a threat to their family. He claimed divine guidance that Tara was influenced by evil forces and needed a special blessing to be cleansed.

Gene continued to boast about his grand ideas, insisting Tara must accept them to be purified. This meant she had to agree with her parents that Shawn, despite his past violence and threats, had been healed. Refusing meant being labeled influenced by demons.
Tara's Academic Struggle

To complicate matters, Tara's parents claimed Audrey had accepted Gene's "blessing" and was now saved too. Tara couldn't accept this distorted reality anymore. She had grown wise to religious extremism and Gene's mental state. Falling back into her father's paranoid beliefs would betray all her progress since leaving home.

Tara faced a tough choice between her family and her education. She stood firm against her parents' wishes, causing a strain. Overwhelmed, she spent months just watching TV, unable to focus on her studies. It nearly jeopardized her hard-earned PhD. Setting her 27th birthday as her thesis deadline, Tara realized she couldn't let everything fall apart. Gradually, she regained her concentration and successfully submitted her thesis.

Tara Westover holds a doctorate. Her journey has been tough; she's been estranged from her parents for years. Despite this, she finds pride in her achievements. She remains close to three of her brothers, as well as her aunt and uncle.