Educated, Tara Westover. 2018. 329 pages This is the memoir of a young Idaho woman raised in a large, rural, violent, uneducated, radical, survivalist, Mormon family in the mountains of Idaho. I found it hard to believe that such ignorance, superstition, and paranoia as this family displayed are still features of parts of American society, but the family thrived, at least financially, even as they stockpiled weapons, food, fuel, and all the provisions needed to survive when the end times come. I also found it difficult to understand why the author took years, even after becoming highly educated at Cambridge and Harvard, to fully sever the ties to the family that repeatedly abused her both physically and psychologically, but I have never had to deal with such conflicts, so why should I be surprised? Unlike many families where disagreements about religion are tacitly ignored and never discussed, in this family, religion had to be discussed and any disagreement with the father’s radical paranoid worldview was condemned as the work of the devil, and lead to shouting matches, ostracism, or worse. Ms Westover frequently questions the accuracy of her recall of events as well she should. It seems inconceivable that a penetrating skull injury with brain tissue visible would be treated in the emergency room, and the patient then sent home. The author never went to primary or secondary school and during her formative years received only education about mixing herbal home remedies for her mother and working in a junkyard for her father. She was taught that modern medicine was the devil’s way of taking over the world, and all injuries and illnesses were treated with herbs. Vaccinations were taboo. In spite of no formal education to age 16, she was accepted at Brigham Young University, then on a scholarship to Cambridge, where she eventually earned a Ph.D. I am not sure whether that says more about the primary education system she missed completely, Brigham Young University’s standards, or her innate brilliance and determination. This is not a pleasant read -I just wanted her to escape the family clutches half way through the book- but it is very educational and a stark warning about the dangers of being isolated from the larger world in a small community of narrow-minded people, particularly those who interpret every happening in the light of their radical religious beliefs. The constant introspection and self-doubt leading to obvious acknowledged depression and inertia is understandable only in the context of the powerful permanent effects of early childhood education, or lack thereof. The author maintains that this is not an ant-Mormon tale, and it is never clear whether or not she still maintains any religious beliefs of any kind. Perhaps it is her deeply ingrained Mormon modesty that also makes her completely avoid any revelations about her own sexuality and sexual experience, (she discusses traveling and sharing a room with a boyfriend), and some discussion about sex would have given this sad/happy true story a little spiciness. I highly recommend this book as a sober commentary about isolationism modern society.