#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University "An amazing story, and truly inspiring. It's even better than you've heard."-Bill Gates NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR BILLGATES'S HOLIDAY READING LIST FINALIST: National Book Critics Circle's Award In Autobiography and John Leonard Prize For Best First Book PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Los Angeles Times Book Prize Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, TaraWestover 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 Tara's older brothers becameviolent. 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 wonderif she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home. "Beautiful and propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of [Westover's] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love?