Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag." In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. Her father distrusted the medical establishment, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse....

If you grew up with an emotionally immature, unavailable, or selfish parent, you may have lingering feelings of anger, loneliness, betrayal, or abandonment. You may recall your childhood as a time when your emotional needs were not met, when your feelings were dismissed, or when you took on adult levels of responsibility in an effort to compensate for your parent{OCLCbr#92}s behavior. These wounds can be healed, and you can move forward in your life....

"Gibson recounts her childhood in conservative Richmond, Virginia, and her growing estrangement from her sister and parents. Returning home years later to meet the needs of her stroke-crippled sister and her incapacitated parents, Gibson offers a deeply moving recounting of her reconciliation with the family she left behind"--Provided by publisher.