Books Like ‘Educated’
‘Educated’ by Tara Westover has been something of a publishing phenomenon since it first hit the bookshelves in 2018. The story of a young woman who leaves her survivalist family in Idaho to discover education and attend University in the UK, it spent two years on the New York Times bestseller list, and even lead to ‘Time’ magazine naming Westover as one of it’s people of the year in 2019. But what is the secret of the book’s success?
Tara Westover is brought up by Mormon fundamentalists in Idaho, isolated from the world and with no access to education or healthcare. She suffers physical abuse at the hands of her brother, with her family refusing to intervene. It’s a fairly grim existence, and Westover shows incredible emotional resilience to survive it.
The turning point is when she discovers a love of learning. After setting foot in her first classroom at the age of seventeen, she never really looks back, eventually getting a Phd from Cambridge University. It’s an incredible turnaround from where she started.
Not only do readers love the journey that Westover goes on, from a scrapyard to a university, but the book is also incredibly well written. She describes her experiences with such a calm authority, and it’s obvious that she studied narrative form and how to pace a story. It’s a memoir, but it has the pace of a work of bestselling fiction.
It got me thinking about other memoirs about survival, about narrators who go a journey. Readers love well written books where they go on a journey of self discovery with the narrator, so I have compiled a list of books like educated.
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
I read ‘The glass castle’ by Jeanette Walls not that long after ‘educated’, so the parallels were pretty clear. Her childhood is poverty stricken, and she is raised in dysfunctional family by nomadic parents who were intelligent and unconventional but who had a hands off approach to child rearing. The father in particular was an alcoholic dreamer with a tendency to be abusive.
Just like ‘educated’, this memoir is an addictive page turner, and the author shows incredible resilience to flourish in later life. Like Westover, she also shows understanding and compassion for her parents, recognising they loved her, and forgives them. She’s also a fantastic writer and the descriptions of her childhood are vivid and detailed.
The last days by Ali Millar
I recently finished reading ‘The last days’ by Ali Millar, in which the author is also raised in a religious family, this time the Jehovahs Witnesses in Scotland. She experiences a grim and oppressive childhood, where Armageddon is always around the corner. But as she gets older, she begins to question her faith.
Ali Millar shows courage and resilience to break free from her past. She’s also an eloquent writer and writes with unflinching honesty about personal trauma and oppression. Like Tara Westover, escaping is never easy.
The Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
In ‘The Hillbilly elegy’ by J.D. Vance the author tells how he grew up in Ohio, raised by his grandparents. It’s a story of generational neglect, poverty and alcoholism. But it’s also about familial love and opportunity.
Like Westover, Vance makes it to university, graduating from Yale Law School. Vance is a superb writer, eloquent and thoughtful, able to describe his upbringing and write a compelling story. This is worthy addition to the books like educated list.
Unfollow: A journey from hatred to hope' by Megan Phelps-Roper
In ‘Unfollow: A journey from hatred to hope’, Megan Phelps-Roper details her time in the infamous Westboro Baptist Church sect. One of eleven children, the author doesn't depict her childhood as anything but normal, as she didn’t know anything else but picketing military funerals and spreading an anti-homosexual message.
But just like Westover, there is a gradual awakening, as she begins to question the doctrines of the church. Another similarity is the sense of a family fracturing, and the pain this causes. It’s ultimately a thoughtful and uplifting book, and Megan’s escape from religious fundamentalism to political activism is inspiring.
Don’t let’s go to the dogs tonight by Alexandra Fuller
The best memoirs take you to another time and place, and ‘Don’t let’s go to the dogs tonight’ by Alexandra Fuller is a fine example of that. Fuller’s family are struggling farmers in Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe) in a changing colonial Africa. It’s a tough life for the family, as they become itinerant farmers whilst dealing with trauma, alcoholism and depression.
I don’t want to make it sound like misery lit, as it’s not- Fuller has a wonderful of bring African life alive, describing it vividly. And she presents events in a way that it’s up to the reader to make their own judgements - she is a child in the book, absorbing events and relaying the attitudes of the time. I’ve included it on the ‘books like educated’ list because it is raw, honest and a compelling memoir worthy of your time.
The Liars Club by Mary Karr
Published back in 1995, ‘The liars club’ by Mary Kerr is one of the older books on the list. A bestseller at the time, it is also credited with launching a resurgence in the popularity of the memoir genre. The story is told in a non-linear way, mirroring the nature of memory, about Karr’s troubled childhood in a sweltering industrial Texan town, with abuse, alcoholism and psychological problems all featuring.
Karr is such a talented writer, her descriptions both poetic and lyrical. She has a wonderful way of bringing the characters in her family to life that feels both intimate and unforgettable. And if it seems like it’s another slice of 'misery lit’ fear not - it’s also fiercely funny.
The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner
In ‘The sound of gravel’ Ruth Wariner grows up in a fundamentalist Mormon cult that believed in Polygamy - she was the 38th of her fathers 42 children. Her chaotic childhood is a tale of extreme poverty, hardship, neglect and abuse, and when her father is murdered and her mother remarries, life doesn’t get any better. Moving between Mexico and the US, Ruth begins to question the cult and her mothers choices, but is tied by her love for her siblings.
One of the threads that connects those those ‘books like educated’ is resilience. How Ruth Wariner survived this existence makes for a memoir that is a testament to the strength of the human spirit to survive, no matter the circumstances. This is a heartbreaking and poignant read, and I’d also recommend the audiobook which Ruth herself narrates.
North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both by Cea Sunrise Person
In ‘Wilderness childhood, my unusual family’, Cea Sunrise Person is born to a 15 year mother before her family decide life in California isn’t for them, upping sticks and moving to the wilds of Northern Alberta in deepest Canada. Living off the land, with no electricity or running water, she’s brought up by her countercultural grandparents and dysfunctional uncle and aunts. Eventually, her mother takes her on the road for an equally perilous existence and she begins to wonder what ‘normal’ is.
Reading this book, Cea feels like the only adult in the this family. It’s heartbreaking to see the world through her eyes, but it’s all the more emotionally satisfying to see how she makes her way in the world. She survives in spite of these people.
Born in a chaotic household to two heroin addicts, suffering abuse and neglect, becoming pregnant and homeless at 15, before moving to Dublin and dealing with her own addiction issues, Katriona O’Sullivan’s account of her early life is raw and powerful.
A chance encounter with a friend on O’Connell st in Dublin leads to a visit to Trinity College Dublin, which results in a career in Academia, which changes her life.
This is a book about escaping the poverty trap, and the importance of school and the kindness of teachers. Opportunities offered to those from disadvantaged backgrounds are fewer now than ever, and highlights how the door is firmly closed during times of austerity. Katriona’s story is brave and inspiring.
So there you have it - a list of books like ‘educated.’ From living a nomadic lifestyle, to surviving a Jehovah’s Witness upbringing in Scotland, the Canadian wilderness and Mormon cults, South African Tobacco farms and sweltering Texan towns, a Baptist church sect to Appalachian Ohio.
There are common threads running through these books - life lived according to religious teachings, abject poverty and despairs, a childhood of neglect and chaos, abuse and dysfunctional families.
But perhaps the most common link between theses memoirs is resilience. The strength of the human spirit, and the ability of humans to learn and question their upbringing. Many of the memoirists also discover learning, and how it has the ability to transform your life.
There is plenty of hardship in the pages of these books, and your emotions will at times be shaken, but the ultimate feeling you’ll leave with is one of hope. These are well written books that allow you as a reader to go on a journey of self discovery with the narrator.
I hope you enjoy these memoirs, and if you can think of more that I might add, please add them in the comments below.