“My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”
Tara Westover’s Educated is one of the most empowering and inspiring memoirs published in the last decade. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she documents her upbringing preparing for the end times by stockpiling canned peaches, swearing off hospitals and scavenging junkyards. So isolated from society were the family that, when her brother became violent, no one was there to stop him. Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began teaching herself. Learning enough grammar and maths to be accepted into Brigham Young University, and then Harvard and Cambridge, her studies in history transformed her understanding of the world and herself. A powerful exploration of survival, self-invention and severing the closest of ties, if you loved Westover’s coming-of-age tale, join us at What We Reading for the best books like Educated!
The Glass Castle – Jeannette Walls
First up on our list of the best books like Educated is Jeannette Walls’ number one New York Times bestseller, The Glass Castle. Similar to Westover’s work, this memoir is a tale of resilience, redemption, and a family that blurs the line between vibrant and dysfunctional. When sober, Jeannette’s father was brilliant and charismatic; capturing his children’s imagination, teaching them geology, physics and how to live life fearlessly. But, when he drank, he was dark, dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of being responsible for raising a family.
The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothes and protected one another, eventually finding their way to New York. Their parents followed them, opting to be homeless even as their children prospered in their lives. The Glass Castle is a remarkable portrait of a peculiar but loyal family.
Southern Discomfort: A Memoir – Tena Clark
Tena Clark was born in a tiny Mississippi town close to the Alabama border in 1953 where the enduring legacy of slavery and racial injustice could be felt across every aspect of life. On the surface, Tena’s life looks perfectly idyllic. Her father was wealthy, her mother a regal beauty, she was given her first car at twelve years old and her family owned the only swimming pool in town. But, behind closed doors, Tena’s life was deeply lonely, and chaotic. Her parent’s marriage became a feud of alcoholism, guns and infidelity, leading to her mother walking out for good on Tina’s tenth birthday.
Tena was left in the care of Virgie, her black nanny. Virgie became her surrogate mother and confidant, even though she was raising nine of her own children, not allowed to eat in the Clark house or use their bathroom. Nevertheless, it was Virgie’s unconditional love and acceptance that gave Tena the confidence to stand up to her domineering father and embrace her true self. Brimming with spirit and evoking the feel of a piece of Southern fiction, Southern Discomfort is a must-read for fans of Educated.
Heartland: A Memoir Of Working Hard And Being Broke In The Richest Country On Earth – Sarah Smarsh
During Sarah Smarsh’s turbulent childhood in Kansas throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the issues of poverty and the country’s rotating economic policies ensured her family stayed within the working poor. Born to a fifth-generation wheat farmer on her father’s side and the product of generations of teen mothers on her mother’s, Heartland is a memoir of Sarah’s upbringing and a striking social commentary on class, identity and the perils of having less in a country that revels in excess.
By telling the story of her life and the people she loves, Heartland challenges readers to look more closely at the class divide in the United States and the wider world. Sarah’s personal history reveals the corrosive nature of intergenerational poverty and the far-reaching impact it has on individuals, families and communities.
Unfollow: A Journey From Hatred To Hope – Megan Phelps-Roper
Megan Phelps-Roper was raised in the Westboro Baptist Church – the fire-and-brimstone religious sect. Unrelenting in its homophobia, anti-semitism and racism, rejoiceful of AIDS and natural disasters and infamous for picketing the funerals of American soldiers, the WBC has been dubbed ‘The Most Hated Family in America’. From her first protest at the age of five to her instrumental role in taking the family’s messaging onto social media, Megan’s life was ‘all in’ delivering God’s truth.
Then, in November 2012 at the age of twenty-six, Megan left the church, her family and her life behind. Unfollow is a memoir about the rarest thing of all: a person changing their mind. Like Educated, it is a compelling look at the closed world of extreme belief, complex families and an inspiring journey of a young woman finding the courage to find compassion for others, as well as herself.
Estranged: Leaving Family And Finding Home – Jessica Berger Gross
To outsiders, Jessica Berger Gross’ childhood growing up in a pleasant Jewish family in middle-class Long Island looked as wholesomely American as any other. Yet, behind closed doors, Jessica suffered years of physical and psychological abuse at the hands of her father, whose moods could switch from loving to violent in an instant. At the age of twenty-eight, Jessica made the decision to cut ties with her family entirely. Years later, now living in Maine with a loving husband and young son, she is convinced that the decision saved her life.
One of the best memoirs like Educated, Estranged breaks through the social taboos and bravely recounts the painful, self-defeating ways in which she internalised her abusive upbringing and finally came to break free of her family. Careful, unflinching and forthright, Jessica’s story is an inspiring path to happiness and a poignant exploration of family and the past.
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Heaven Up Here – John K. Williams
Each year, thousands of scrubbed young men and women set out to bring Mormonism to the world. Beyond the faith-promoting tales they spin and the musicals they inspire, the reality of what it means to be a missionary – why they leave home and what they do – is a mystery to most people. If you found the radical beliefs and look at life on the fringes in Educated, John K. Williams’ Heaven Up Here is a fascinating follow-up.
The story of one young American’s account of leaving his family in Southern California to spend two years preaching in Bolivia, Heaven Up Here is neither an attempt to glorify the work of missionaries, nor is it an attempt to tear it down. Instead, the book documents the good, the bad and the struggle to not only survive brutal conditions but also make sense of it all.
I’m Glad My Mom Died – Jenette McCurdy
Jenette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first audition. Her mother’s dream was for her to be a star, and Jenette would do anything to make her happy. So, she went along with what her mom called ‘calorie restriction’, endured extensive at-home makeovers, shared diaries, emails, and her income and was even showered by her mom until the age of sixteen.
In I’m Glad My Mom Died, iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jenette recounts her struggles as a former child actor, a complicated relationship with an overbearing mother, and how she finally reclaimed her life. As a result of her mother’s upbringing, she talks about the addictions, unhealthy relationships and disorders that plagued her formative years. Through refreshing candour and dark humour, she also explains how quitting acting and discovering therapy fuelled her recovery and allowed her to decide what she really wants for her life for the first time.
Check Out The Best Books Like I’m Glad My Mom Died
The Sound Of Gravel – Ruth Wariner
Ruth Wariner was the thirty-ninth of her father’s forty-two children. Growing up on a farm in rural Mexico where authorities turned a blind eye to the practices of her community, Ruth grew up in a ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity. At church, pastors informed her that God would punish the wicked and that women could only enter heaven by entering into polygamous marriages and having as many children as possible. After Ruth’s father is murdered by his brother in a bid for church power, her mother remarries, becoming the second wife of a faithful congregant.
In need of income and government support, Ruth and her siblings are carted back and forth from the United States. She loves her time in the States, slowly coming to realise that the community she has been born into might not be the best for her. Similar to Educated, the more she questions her mother’s decisions and family’s beliefs, she finds herself torn between her love for them and a desire to better herself. Ruth Wariner delivers an innocent and hopeful memoir of one girl’s courage, resilience and triumph in The Sound of Gravel.
How To Say Babylon – Safiya Sinclair
Throughout her childhood, Safiya Sinclair’s father, a volatile reggae musician and fervent believer in Rastafari, became obsessed with her purity and the threat of what was known as ‘Babylon’, the corrupting and immoral influences of the Western world on their home. To keep Babylon outside the gate, he forbade almost everything. No make-up, no jewellery, no opinions and no friends. While loyal to her father, Safiya’s mother gave her the gift of books. As she watched her mother struggle with the housework and obedience to her husband, Safiya used her education to find her voice and break free.
Like Educated, How to Say Babylon is a reckoning with the culture and upbringing that nourished Safiya, but also sought to keep her silenced. Rooted in patriarchy, tradition and colonialism in Jamaica, it is a richly-told, lyrical memoir that only a poet as skilled as Sinclair could serve up.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
