Tara Westover was seventeen when she first stepped foot into a classroom.  She grew up in Idaho with a Mormon survivalist family.  Her dad had very strong non government views and thought the end of the world was coming.  He also thought the family should not interact with medical or educational systems.  Tara’s story contains many horrific accounts of medical issues going untreated.   Tara’s mother worked as a midwife and herbalist.  She concocted various remedies to cure her families’ ailments and injuries.  Tara worked for both of her parents and spent many hours working with her father under horrific conditions in his salvage yard, as well as helping her mother with her business by concocted herbal remedies.  Tara also dealt with abuse and violence from her brother.  Tara eventually decided that the only way to leave her dysfunctional family was to go to college like her brother Tyler.  Thus, she began teaching herself to prepare for the ACT and scored high enough to get accepted to BYU.  She went onto Harvard and Cambridge University, and earned her PhD in history.

This book is such an inspirational read and shows one that anything is possible if one sets their mind to it.