Brothers and Sisters

Tara Westover, the internationally bestselling author of Educated, returns with a deeply moving and beautifully-told memoir of what came after.

There are many of us out there, the liars.

Tara Westover grew up at the base of a mountain in Idaho, then she left the mountain and wrote the story. She wrote about her father’s junkyard and being kept out of school, the family’s preparations for the End of Days and the confusion she felt when an older brother became violent. Then she published the story.

The world believed her, but her parents hired a lawyer. What followed was a battle over the past. Who gets to say what happened? Who gets to be believed? And how can you believe yourself when your own parents say you’re lying?

Westover was able to believe herself because two of her brothers believed her. “There is a gift siblings can give to one another,” Westover writes. “It is the gift of a witness.”

But the gift didn’t last. The book became a phenomenon, and soon after, her brothers denied events they had once confirmed.

Brothers and Sisters is the story of what comes after, and of what it means to step into the world knowing that you will outlive the story that made you.

Reviews

Praise for Educated:

‘A memoir to stand alongside classics by the likes of Jeanette Winterson and Lorna Sage … a compelling and ultimately joyous account of self-determination’ Sunday Times

‘A fascinating, jaw-dropping memoir’ Observer

‘A superb memoir … extraordinary … Her story, of fighting to be herself, is as old as the hills she came from, but Westover gives us such a fresh, absorbing take that it deserves to bring her own private Idaho into the bestseller lists, book groups and, eventually, cinemas’ The Times

‘What a writer, what a thinker and what a gift for the rest of us to be able to read her story. Unbelievably moving and profoundly thought-provoking’ Elizabeth Day, author of One of Us

‘An unflinching account of love and brutality, of the strength of blood ties and the power of imagination, and of a young woman whose intellect, self-knowledge and courage illuminate every page … even when writing from the depths, she does so with compassion and grace. Both the book and its writer are remarkable in every respect’ Sarah Perry, author of Death of an Ordinary Man

‘Westover has a story to tell that shouldn't be ignored’ Guardian

‘Marvellous. There is no feeling like discovering a young writer who is springing up fully armed with so much talent’ Stephen Fry, author of Mythos

About the author

Tara Westover is an American historian and memoirist. Her first book, Educated, was a finalist for several national awards, including the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The New York Times named Educated one of the 10 Best Books of 2018, and in 2019, TIME named Westover one of the 100 Most Influential People. Westover holds a PhD in intellectual history from Trinity College, Cambridge, and in 2019 she was the Rosenthal Writer in Residence at Harvard University. In 2023, she was awarded the National Humanities Medal.