One could name this individuality in many ways. Transformation. Metamorphosis. Falsehood. Betrayal. I call it education.

Born in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover grew up close to nature, obeying the laws set by her father – a fundamentalist Mormon convinced that the End of Days is approaching. Tara and her siblings do not attend school, nor do they go to the doctor when they fall ill; they work with their father, while their mother is a practical healer and the area’s only midwife.

Tara has a talent for singing, but also an obsession with knowledge. She enters a classroom for the first time at the age of seventeen: she is unaware that two world wars have occurred, nor does she know the exact date of her own birth.

She soon discovers that education is the only way to escape her home. Starting from scratch, she gathers the necessary strength and prepares for the university entrance exams, crossing oceans and continents to graduate from Cambridge. To do this, however, she must sever the ties that bind her to her family.

Westover has created a global and inspiring story – her own story – about education and its power to provide new perspectives and outlooks on our lives, filling us with the will for continued growth.