Westover recounts overcoming her survivalist Mormon family in order to go to college and emphasizes the importance of education in enlarging her world.

She details her journey from her isolated life in the mountains of Idaho to completing a PhD program in history at Cambridge University.

As of the September 13, 2020, issue of The New York Times, the book had spent 132 consecutive weeks on the Hardcover Non-Fiction Best Seller list.

Gene was paranoid about hospitals, public education, and the government, partially due to the siege at Ruby Ridge.

Her brother Shawn initially helps her, and the two grow closer, but he starts physically abusing her as she befriends Charles, a boy she meets while performing in theater.

Another of Westover's brothers, Tyler, learns of the abuse and encourages her to leave home and take the ACT to be able to apply to Brigham Young University (BYU).

The two previously fell out over how she chronicled her past to local news outlets and her decision to attend school in England.

After returning to Cambridge, Westover takes steps to be part of the world, including getting immunized for vaccinations her family rejected.

Westover and Faye take up email correspondence through which the latter suggests that Gene is mentally ill and writes about how they plan to get Shawn the help he needs.

On another trip home, Shawn briefly shows signs of change but later accuses Audrey of lying about his abusive behavior and threatens to kill her.

Westover then begins graduate school at Harvard, and her parents briefly visit and try to convince her to come home.

After returning home again, Westover discovers that Erin, Shawn's ex-girlfriend, wrote to Faye that she was delusional and demonizing her brother.

Westover decided to write the book after she confronted her parents about her brother's abuse, and the resulting conflict led to her becoming estranged from some members of her family.

In an interview with The Irish Times, she said, "You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them, and you can miss someone every day and still be glad they're not in your life.

Educated spent more than two years in hardcover on the New York Times bestseller list[18] and is being translated into 45 languages.