What is Shawn Westover’s real name?
And why doesn’t Tara Westover reveal his real name? Shawn Westover is the fictitious name Tara Westover gives to one of her brothers in her memoir Educated.
Why didn’t Tara Westover reveal Shawn’s real name in educated?
We’ll look at Shawn Westover’s relationship with the author and cover parts of Educated that might indicate why Tara chose not to reveal Shawn’s real name, even though she used the real names of at least three of her four other brothers. In the weeks following a car crash, Tara experienced great difficulty moving her neck.
Who is Tara Westover’s sister Audrey?
Are they still in contact? Audrey Westover is the fictional name Tara Westover gives to her only sister in the memoir Educated. We’ll cover parts of Educated that demonstrate the complicated relationship between Audrey Westover and the author.
Who is Shawn Westover married to in the book?
Audrey Westover, Tara, and Their Brother Shawn Audrey and Tara’s brother, Shawn, had a history of abusing women. By the second half of the memoir, Shawn is married to Emily. One night while Tara was home from college, Emily came running to the home of the Westover parents, Gene and Faye, crying and shaking with terror.
What is Shawn's real name in Educated?
“Shawn” is the nickname for Travis. (Tyle, Richard and Luke Westover are referred to by their actual names in the book.) Her older sister Valaree (“Audrey“) and her mother run an essential oils business together.
What are the names of Tara Westover's siblings?
Westover familyTara Westover: Youngest child and writer of memoir.Gene Westover (pseudonym): Tara's father, who did not believe in public education or doctors. ... Faye Westover (pseudonym): Tara's mother, a midwife and herbal specialist. ... Tyler Westover: Tara's older brother, the third brother of the seven siblings.More items...
Who is Shawn Westover?
Shawn Westover is the fictitious name Tara Westover gives to one of her brothers in her memoir Educated.
How many siblings does Tara Westover have?
Early life and education. Westover was the youngest of seven children born in Clifton, Idaho (population 259) to Mormon survivalist parents. She has five older brothers and an older sister.
What happens to Shawn in Educated?
Shawn is a violent and threatening presence in the memoir. He is always somewhat erratic, but his behavior seems to become heightened after he suffers a traumatic brain injury.
What did Tara Westover's family think of her book?
As you might imagine, from a parental and sibling perspective, Tara's family is upset with the book being printed, with the story being told. In fact, they dispute much of what's been written about them.
Is Gene Westover still alive?
August 20, 1931 — March 6, 2018. Gene Hill Westover passed away March 6, 2018, he was born August 20, 1931 in Granger, UT to Nina and Arthur Westover. He had 5 brothers and 1 sister and married Delora Morrison August 20, 1954 in Burley, ID.
How true is the book Educated?
Although “there's a little germ of truth,” in “Educated,” the book falsely portrays the Westover family, Atkin said. “They are conservative, patriotic people. Tara says her father is a (Mormon) fundamentalist, which infers that he believes in polygamy. That's certainly not the truth.
Where are the Westovers now?
Westover now lives full-time in Cambridge, on the ground floor of a pretty brick house. When she finished her Ph. D. in history, she moved to London with her then-boyfriend, but settled in the university town again after that relationship ended.
Why did Tara Westover use pseudonyms?
Tara Westover: A lot of them don't have pseudonyms, but I used pseudonyms for the ones I was estranged from. The ones I was in touch with didn't mind. They were really good about reading it, giving me lots of feedback.
What happened to Richard in Educated?
Richard Westover He attends college, and eventually gets a PhD. Richard also maintains a relationship with Tara after she becomes estranged from her family, but she is less close with him than she is with Tyler.
Who is Shawn in the book Educated?
FIRST NAMELAST NAMEDESCRIPTIONGrandmaWestoverGene Westover's mother. Aka: Grandma-down-the-hill.MavisBeaconTara Westover's teacher in typing class.RobertA man who worked for Gene Westover.EmmaShawn Westover's girlfriend.75 more rows
Is Gene Westover still alive?
August 20, 1931 — March 6, 2018. Gene Hill Westover passed away March 6, 2018, he was born August 20, 1931 in Granger, UT to Nina and Arthur Westover. He had 5 brothers and 1 sister and married Delora Morrison August 20, 1954 in Burley, ID.
Where are the Westovers now?
Westover now lives full-time in Cambridge, on the ground floor of a pretty brick house. When she finished her Ph. D. in history, she moved to London with her then-boyfriend, but settled in the university town again after that relationship ended.
Who is Audrey Westover?
Audrey Westover is the fictional name Tara Westover gives to her only sister in the memoir Educated. We'll cover parts of Educated that demonstrate the complicated relationship between Audrey Westover and the author.
How true is the book Educated?
Although “there's a little germ of truth,” in “Educated,” the book falsely portrays the Westover family, Atkin said. “They are conservative, patriotic people. Tara says her father is a (Mormon) fundamentalist, which infers that he believes in polygamy. That's certainly not the truth.
Who is Tara Westover?
Tara Westover (born September 27, 1986) is an American memoirist, essayist and historian. Her memoir Educated (2018) debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list and was a finalist for a number of national awards, including the LA Times Book Prize, PEN America 's Jean Stein Book Award, and two awards from the National Book Critics Circle Award. The New York Times ranked Educated as one of the 10 Best Books of 2018. Westover was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of 2019.
What is the story of Westover's education?
In 2018, Penguin Random House published Westover's Educated: A Memoir, which tells the story of her struggle to reconcile her desire for education and autonomy with her family's rigid ideology and isolated life.
Who is Blake Atkin?
Blake Atkin, a lawyer representing Westover's parents, claims that Educated creates a distorted picture of the parents. Westover has not responded directly to these claims, but according to the book's acknowledgements, prior to publication it was professionally fact-checked by Ben Phelan of This American Life and GQ.
Did the Westover siblings homeschool?
All the siblings were loosely homeschooled by their mother. Westover has said an older brother taught her to read, and she studied the scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But she never attended a lecture, wrote an essay, or took an exam. There were few textbooks in their house.
Who is Tara's brother?
Audrey and Tara’s brother, Shawn, had a history of abusing women. By the second half of the memoir, Shawn is married to Emily.
Who was Tara's ally in the story?
In the end, this force of denial even swept up Audrey Westover, Tara’s erstwhile ally in the fight to bring the truth to light. The family was closing ranks—against their youngest daughter. Sure enough, Audrey likewise told Tara to stay away from her forever. Tara had lost her family.
What was Shawn's threat to Audrey?
Shawn’s Threat Toward Audrey Westover. One night when they were alone, Shawn confronted Tara about her conversations with Audrey. Although Tara denied having spoken to her, Shawn once again revealed his malevolent streak.
Why was Tara afraid to reveal the abuse to her parents?
Tara was afraid to reveal the abuse to her parents out of fear that they already knew and had chosen to do nothing about it. The day after the sisters’ email exchange, Audrey Westover confronted Faye about Shawn. Later that evening, Faye got in touch with Tara online to discuss the matter further.
What did Audrey tell Tara about her grandmother's funeral?
When Tara returned to Buck’s Peak for Grandma-down-the-hill’s funeral, Audrey told Tara that nothing had changed. No one had taken any action at all.
Why did Shawn get angry with Emily?
Shawn had gotten angry with Emily for bringing home the wrong crackers for their son and violently thrown her out of the trailer in the dead of winter. Yet Tara’s parents continued to do nothing about Shawn’s disturbing behavior, even when it put their grandson and daughter-in-law at clear risk.
Did Tara's sister get abused?
In speaking about this incident with her sister Audrey, Tara learned that she, too, had been abused by Shawn. Being her older sister, Audrey had experienced all of it first, before Tara did. Audrey would later recount to Tara via email that she never believed their mother would intervene to stop him and protect her daughters.
Was Tara the victim of Shawn's twisted violent and abusive antics?
There is a bonding that happens between victim and captor and there is no doubt that Tara was the victim to Shawn’s twisted violent and abusive antics. Appreciated throughout the memoir was Westover’s own inquiry into the possibility of her own “madness” so to speak.
Is Westover's childhood traumatic?
In Educated, Westover describes a deeply troubling childhood whose lasting impact simply cannot be denied. Whether the story is ex aggerated or not, if even a quarter of what happened to her were true, it would still be deemed highly traumatic, to say the least. The sheer number of times of witnessing burns, bloodied family members, and multiple car crashes is enough to give any individual PTSD.
What is Tyler Westover's brother number?
First, let me identify myself. I am Tyler Westover, brother number three in this book. Reading through other comments, it is clear that the book has become very controversial. A natural tendency when we encounter someone that we disagree strongly with is to attempt to dehumanize those individuals into foul monsters. We see this behavior regularly in politics as well as in arguments over land and other natural resources. My purpose in writing this review is not to try to prove either side wrong; rather, it is to “humanize” the people on both sides, while also providing a partial perspective that people on both sides of the argument may be able to agree with. Several concerns prevent this from being a full perspective.
Who is Tara's mother?
Also, LaRee (Tara's mother) posted a promotional video on Youtube for her book which is (amazingly!) being marketed as a book for people who are struggling to homeschool their kids during the pandemic. She says she is an expert in this area as evidenced by "three of our children [going] on to obtain PhD’s in such fields as chemistry and mechanical engineering."
What did Tyler's father want from Tara?
Tara was the youngest and a female which their father treated much differently than her brothers! The father wanted Tylers help to run the business but he wanted Tara to get married and be a stay at home wife or stay and work in the junkyard . They were treated very differently and Tyler had moved out by the time Tara was old enough to go away to school.
Did Roni's mother graduate from BYU?
Roni The book mentions her mother at BYU, but didn’t graduate.
Did Tara attend college?
Regarding higher education, many readers of the book have concluded that Tara attended formal higher education against apparently insurmountable odds. Perhaps it is not that surprising after all. Of the seven children in our family, six of them attended formal higher education classes (Luke is the only one who has not, and as described in Tara’s book, classroom education is not really his thing). In addition, both our mother “Faye” and our father “Gene” attended at least one year of university classes each. Our mother frequently encouraged me from a young age to prepare to attend university classes by the time I was sixteen. On the other hand, our father has expressed great dissatisfaction with the hubris associated with university education as well as its bias toward liberal thinking.
Overview
Tara Westover (born September 27, 1986) is an American memoirist, essayist and historian. Her memoir Educated (2018) debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list and was a finalist for a number of national awards, including the LA Times Book Prize, PEN America's Jean Stein Book Award, and two awards from the National Book Critics Circle Award. The New York Times r…
Early life and education
Westover was the youngest of seven children born in Clifton, Idaho (population 259) to Mormon survivalist parents. She has five older brothers and an older sister. Her parents were suspicious of doctors, hospitals, public schools, and the federal government. Westover was born at home, delivered by a midwife, and was never taken to a doctor or nurse. She was not registered for a birth certificate until she was nine years old. Their father resisted getting formal medical treatment fo…
Awards and recognition
Westover's book earned her several awards, and other recognition.
• Named the Book of the Year by the American Booksellers Association
• Finalist for the John Leonard Prize from the National Book Critics Circle
• Finalist for the Autobiography Award from the National Book Critics Circle
External links
• Official website
• Tara Westover, After Words, C-SPAN