Raised by wolves

college. Tara Westover was one of them. She gradually learned that Europe is not a country but a continent and that the Holocaust killed more people than the Boston Massacre.

She also learned to throw out rotting food and wash her hands after using the bathroom. She eventually earned a doctorate from Cambridge University in England.

But this is not the education to which the book’s title refers. Ms. Westover’s family had another secret. One of her brothers, Shawn, enjoyed hurting people. He preyed on his sisters and later, his girlfriends, wife, children and pets. Most of the time he was kind, even protective of Ms. Westover, shielding her from her father’s insistence that she perform dangerous tasks in the scrap yard.

But he could explode at any moment, usually picking times that would be most humiliating to Ms. Westover, when an outsider could witness her degradation.

He might drag her down a hallway by her hair, twist her arm behind her back and stuff her face in the toilet while a rare school friend was visiting the home. Shawn sprained her ankle and broke her wrist during two of his attacks.

Her parents did nothing effectual to help her. Indeed, her father purposefully put her in harm’s way if she expressed any hesitance about following his orders, and her mother decided Shawn needed her protection more than Ms. Westover did.

At one time, it appeared her mother regretted her inaction. Later, however, both parents made clear that if Ms. Westover did not accept their version of reality — that none of the attacks ever took place and that Ms. Westover owed her brother an apology — then she would be disowned.

Shawn knew he had won. When another brother tried to defend Ms. Westover, Shawn told him, “I can have you out of this family in two minutes. You know I can do it. Just ask Tara.”

Ms. Westover struggled for a long time trying to determine whether she was crazy or her family was right. She wondered whether she should apologize, even if she didn’t believe she was wrong, just so she would be accepted by the family again. She endured nightmares, panic attacks and a mental breakdown without seeking help because she was raised to keep family business within the family.

Ms. Westover has survived her family at great cost and is still trying to effect better relationships with them without sacrificing her soul. So far, two of her brothers are on good terms with her, as are some extended family members. Her other siblings depend on her parents for their livelihoods and so cannot defy them.

Her parents are adamant that she either accept their version of events, or they will never speak to her again. Ms. Westover now realizes that her parents value obedience to them over her welfare, and that they don’t mind if her brother abuses weaker beings.

These are harsh lessons, much harsher than learning that her father’s understanding of the world is demonstrably incorrect.

This is a powerful story told by a powerful storyteller. Read it.