#1NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL,ANDBOSTON GLOBEBESTSELLER NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYTHE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMAS FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR BILL GATESS HOLIDAY READING LISTFINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLES AWARD IN AUTOBIOGRAPHY FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLES JOHN LEONARD PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST BOOK FINALIST FOR THE PEN/JEAN STEIN BOOK AWARD FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES BOOK PRIZE

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYThe Washington PostO: The Oprah MagazineTime NPR Good Morning AmericaSan Francisco ChronicleThe GuardianThe EconomistFinancial TimesNewsdayNew York PosttheSkimmRefinery29BloombergSelfReal SimpleTown & CountryBustlePastePublishers WeeklyLibrary JournalLibraryReadsBookRiot Pamela Paul, KQED New York Public Library

An unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University

Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Taras older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if shed traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

Beautiful and propulsiveDespite the singularity of [Tara Westovers] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?Vogue

Westover has somehow managed not only to capture her unsurpassably exceptional upbringing, but to make her current situation seem not so exceptional at all, and resonant for many others.The New York Times Book Review