By Tara Westover

Everyone has a story.  I enjoy reading memoirs because it is always a long, hard look into someone else’s unique life. This memoir is striking.

Tara Westover is the youngest of seven children. The family lives on a mountain in Idaho.  It is remote, sparsely populated, no telephone, no schooling.  The government is the enemy, the medical world is the enemy.  Y2K is approaching and that will surely be the end of the world – unless you are prepared.  Even the youngest work the junk yard, finding what they need for survival, and for their livelihood.

There is recklessness beyond words, numerous near-death experiences, accidents that defy survival, and love that looks like anything but.

Where they come from and what they achieve in a world of chaos is unfathomable. This is Tara’s story. Be prepared to wallow in the muck, wander fearlessly, experience physical and mental torture, and search for love.

This book leaves me with a lot of questions and a lot of food for thought. For instance, I would like to hear from the medical community about how people (yes more than one in this family) can experience brutality, suffer brain injuries and other severe medical injuries, yet can survive, with no medical attention, and even return to normal living, or at least what is normal for them.  I would like to hear from psychologists and sociologists to explain how people can live in the type of environment that was described and emerge financially successful.   Three of the seven children were reported to succeed educationally at the doctoral level without any educational foundation whatsoever, while four of the children remained uneducated and immersed in the lifestyle of their upbringing.  Perhaps I just want to hear from other readers!

Be warned, all who enter. This is not an easy story to read.