The Book of Sarah discussion

I would like to know how to start this discussion, but I actually don't. While I was reading this book I felt connected with it in a very strong way and in a way that I never imagined could happen. This book is a memoir from Tara Westover – who successfully graduated and has now a Ph.D. Tara was born in Idaho, in a Mormon community. His parents had seven children and followed Mormon precepts to the letter, in a very radical and extreme way (life spoiler: nothing- And I mean nothing- too extreme can be good). This means that the children were educated at home, did not take vaccines and did not take birth certificates, for example. .

The book is written in 3 parts, where we will see the narrator's childhood, adolescence, growth and also, her achievements. We see how much her life starts to change when one of the brothers ends up going against the whole family and going to college, making Tara herself realize that her life didn't have to be just… that. It didn't have to be just her father's authoritarianism, the brother’s physically aggressive behaviors. That she could have a trajectory beyond the mountain (academically speaking but also as a woman and as a human being). Stepping into school at the age of 17 changed her life completely, she learned that she had no destiny set so created her own story. .

Tara was guided by a gigantic survival instinct, a will to live that made me cry all the time. If she didn't go to school and studied at home, she found in the old books and in the figure of her brother the support to not give up of that thirst for knowledge and that desire to learn that dominated her. Educated is one of those stories that magnifies those who are reading, you get inspired by reading the emotional growth and personal evolution of the character through education.
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For us, who live surrounded by information and with a whole world at our fingertips, it can be difficult to understand how anyone could not know what the Holocaust at the age of seventeen. But this was her reality and. sadly, it still is the reality of a lot of people out there. And even though she doubted herself, she didn't give up. With the support of teachers and people she met along the way, Tara was rewriting her story in such a powerful way. No matter how much her old life tried to pull her back in, she went on swimming. She moved on. For someone who was once stuck with the Indian Princess, when she discovered the world there was no turning back.

I have to say I feel a certain relief to know that this book was written away from that reality (a reality that she tries to deny from herself, but her diaries won’t let her). Educated tells the story of the extraordinary strength of a woman who never allowed herself to be stopped, following her path allowing herself to feel the greatness of all her vulnerabilities.

But, in the end, Educated is a book that reminds you of the transforming power of education, words, and writing. Reminds you how we can never underestimate its importance or not to value it enough. Tara is one person, but she speaks for several. It speaks for the many people who have never had the chance to step into a classroom and feel the impact it has within them. Tara is simply herself and so, so she is inspiring.

I, personally, firmly believe in the power of education. I know how much this can change someone’s life and this story touched my heart and I'm still thinking about a lot of things even today….weeks after I finished. But I did talk too much already, what do you guys think about this book?