Tara Westover to Publish Second Memoir 'Brothers and Sisters' in April

Tara Westover is set to publish a second memoir, "Brothers and Sisters," nearly a decade after the release of her million-selling debut, "Educated." Random House announced on Thursday that the new book will arrive on April 13.

"Educated," published in 2018, became one of the most widely discussed memoirs of its time. In it, Westover recounted her upbringing as the youngest of seven children in a Mormon survivalist family in Idaho, the physical abuse she says she suffered at the hands of an older brother, and her eventual separation from her family. The book spent more than two years on The New York Times nonfiction bestseller list and was named a finalist by the National Book Critics Circle in two categories. It also appeared on year-end favorites lists compiled by Bill Gates and former President Barack Obama.

According to the publisher's announcement, "Brothers and Sisters" explores how memories are held within a family, including instances in which someone may know a person is telling the truth but still call them a liar. Westover writes about her parents disputing her recollections and her siblings denying events described in "Educated" that they had previously acknowledged. The announcement describes the book as, ultimately, a story about what it means to grow up and to outlive the story that made you.

Westover, who turns 40 later this month, attended Brigham Young University as a scholarship student and later earned a doctorate in intellectual history from Trinity College in Cambridge, England. In 2021, then-President Joe Biden awarded her a National Humanities Medal, recognizing her as an example of how the humanities can set people and a nation free.