BOISE, Idaho — Best-selling author Tara Westover was on Ellen DeGeneres' show Thursday to talk about her memoir "Educated," which is about growing up the youngest of seven children in the mountains of rural Idaho.
Westover says her parents didn't believe in doctors, the federal government or formal education, and she became estranged from her family when she decided to go to college.
“I think it's a strange story, but kind of the point of it I think as you grow up, maybe some of these things about your parents, even if they're well intentioned, you can have a really difficult time trying to decide what to do with the fact that the love is real,” said Westover, “I think my parents loved us, they absolutely cared about us and yet it was incredibly difficult to navigate that.”
Westover taught herself math and grammar and got into Brigham Young University despite not having a GED.
She went on to study at Harvard and got a PhD from Cambridge.
Her memoir "Educated" was has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for 55 weeks.