Tara Westover Books in Order: Complete Reading Guide
Tara Westover has published one book — Educated. Reading guide for the essential memoir about family, survival, and the transformative power of education.
Tara Westover grew up in a survivalist family in rural Idaho, was not formally educated until she taught herself enough to pass the ACT college entrance exam at seventeen, and went on to earn a PhD from Cambridge. Her memoir about this path — Educated — became one of the most-discussed books of 2018 and has sold millions of copies.
Tara Westover’s Only Book
1. Educated — 2018
The memoir of a woman who grew up without formal education in a family that refused government institutions — school, hospitals, identity documents — and found her way to Cambridge. One of the most compelling accounts of self-determination in American memoir, and a serious examination of family loyalty and its limits.
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What to Read After Educated
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls — A memoir about growing up with unconventional, neglectful parents who saw themselves as free spirits — the most direct comparison to Educated in terms of subject matter and emotional terrain.
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance — Another memoir about escaping a specific American subculture through education, with significant political resonance.
The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr — A memoir of a chaotic Texas childhood that reads as precise literature, by one of the best prose stylists in American non-fiction.
Becoming by Michelle Obama — A memoir about education as the mechanism of transformation — Obama’s account of her own path from Chicago’s South Side through Princeton and Harvard Law School.
Westover and Her Family
Educated is notable for its careful treatment of the ethical problem it poses: Westover is writing about living people — her parents, her siblings — who have not consented to the characterisations. Some family members, including her parents and one brother, have publicly disputed her account. Westover addresses this directly in the book, acknowledging that memory is unreliable and that her account is hers, not the definitive record. The disclaimer is honest and appropriate; readers should hold it alongside the memoir itself.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Has Tara Westover written any other books besides Educated?
No. As of 2026, Educated (2018) is Tara Westover's only published book. She has not announced a follow-up memoir or other publication.
Is Educated a true story?
Yes. Educated is a memoir about Westover's own life — her childhood in a survivalist family in rural Idaho, her lack of formal education until her late teens, and her path from that background to a PhD from Cambridge. Some family members have disputed specific accounts in the book.
Why did Educated sell so many copies?
Educated connects with readers on multiple levels: as a survival story, as an education story, as a family drama, and as a political story about the limits and possibilities of self-determination. Barack Obama named it one of his favourite books of 2018, which significantly accelerated its reach.
