The character arc of Tara Westover

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 27 September 1986 in Clifton, Idaho, a town of a few hundred people. Between then and now sit a childhood without schooling, a first classroom at seventeen, a Brigham Young degree in 2008, a Harvard fellowship in 2010, a Cambridge doctorate in 2014, Educated in 2018, the Time 100 in 2019 and the National Humanities Medal presented in 2023. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Tara Westover?

Her first classroom was at seventeen.

She was born in Clifton, Idaho, a town with a few hundred people in it, and did not go to school. She has said she was seventeen when she first set foot in a classroom. Whatever a person thinks about the rest of the story, that single fact sets the scale of what came afterwards.

She taught herself enough to sit the entrance tests and went to Brigham Young University, graduating with honours in 2008. In 2010 she was a visiting fellow at Harvard. She then went to Trinity College, Cambridge, took a master's and in 2014 a doctorate in intellectual history, with a thesis on family, morality and social science in Anglo-American cooperative thought between 1813 and 1890.

Educated, her memoir, was published in 2018 and entered the New York Times bestseller list at number one. It won a Goodreads Choice Award and an Audie Award and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the PEN Jean Stein Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Time named her one of the hundred most influential people in 2019. She was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2021 and received it at the White House on 21 March 2023. Members of her family have publicly disputed parts of her account of their childhood, which is recorded here and not settled here.

The moments

Tara Westover's timeline.

The 1980s

27 Sep 1986

Born in Clifton

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A town of two hundred and fifty nine people, and no school in her childhood.

The 2000s

1 Jun 2003

Stay, or sit the tests

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: teach herself and go, taken, or stay where she was. Ten years later she held a doctorate from Cambridge, and four years after that a memoir at number one.

5 Jan 2004

Her first classroom

Milestone, and it changed everything. Seventeen years old, and a classroom for the first time. Everything on this line is measured from here.

Jun 2008

A degree, with honours

Milestone, and it changed everything. Four years from a first classroom to an honours degree.

The 2010s

Sep 2010

A fellowship at Harvard

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Harvard, six years after the first classroom.

Jun 2014

A Cambridge doctorate

Milestone, and it changed everything. Trinity College, and a doctorate in intellectual history.

20 Feb 2018

Educated

Milestone, and it changed everything. Straight in at number one, with the story of how she got here.

17 Apr 2019

The Time 100

Milestone, and it changed her direction. One year after the book, on a list of the hundred most influential people alive.

The 2020s

~2021

A national medal

Milestone, and it changed everything. A national medal for the humanities, to somebody who was not in a classroom until seventeen.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is the plainest possible evidence against the idea that a starting point is a ceiling, which is a thing many people need to see drawn before they will believe it.

What she wrote

Books by Tara Westover

2018
Educated
Her memoir of a childhood without school and the education that followed. It entered the New York Times list at number one.

Your turn

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Tara Westover: frequently asked questions

What people ask about her line.

What is Tara Westover's character arc?

She grew up in rural Idaho without going to school, entered a classroom for the first time at seventeen, took an honours degree in four years, held a fellowship at Harvard, finished a Cambridge doctorate at twenty seven, and wrote a memoir that went straight to number one.

Did Tara Westover go to school as a child?

No. The public record is clear that she did not attend school in childhood and has said she first set foot in a classroom at seventeen. Everything else on her line is measured from that point.

What is Educated by Tara Westover?

Her memoir, published in 2018, about growing up without schooling in Idaho and the education that followed. It debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list and won a Goodreads Choice Award and an Audie Award.

Where did Tara Westover study?

Brigham Young University, where she graduated with honours in 2008, then Harvard as a visiting fellow in 2010, then Trinity College, Cambridge, where she took a master's and a doctorate in intellectual history in 2014.

Has Tara Westover's memoir been disputed?

Members of her family have publicly disputed parts of her account of their childhood. This page records that disagreement and does not settle it, and draws her line from the facts that stand outside it.

What awards has Tara Westover won?

A Goodreads Choice Award for autobiography, an Audie Award for memoir, a place on the Time 100 in 2019, and the National Humanities Medal, awarded for 2021 and presented at the White House on 21 March 2023.

What was Tara Westover's doctorate about?

Intellectual history. Her Cambridge thesis was on the family, morality and social science in Anglo-American cooperative thought between 1813 and 1890, which is about as far from her starting point as a subject could be.

Where does this timeline of Tara Westover's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Tara Westover isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to her.

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Sources

Tara Westover, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
University of Cambridge, Trinity College, PhD in intellectual history, 2014.
National Endowment for the Humanities, National Humanities Medal, 2021.