Cut Me Loose – A Review

I recently received a copy of Cut Me Loose: Sin and Salvation After My Ultra-Orthodox Girlhood from NetGalley and Penguin Books. And I’m super excited to share this book with you.  Cut Me Loose chronicles the early life of Leah Vincent, in her transition from Ultra-Orthodox Jewish girl, to secular woman.

So what’s this book about anyway? A Synopsis –

Cut Me Loose is an electrifying memoir about a young woman’s self-destructive spiral after being cast out by her ultra-Orthodox Jewish family.

Leah Vincent was born into the Yeshivish community, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect that shuns the modern world. She and her ten siblings adored their father, an influential rabbi, and sought his approval as the head of their traditional household. But Leah began to notice and disagree with some aspects of this fundamentalist, male-centered world; she protested her father’s racial slurs and dreamed of going to college. When, at sixteen, Leah was caught exchanging letters with a boy—breaking a religious ban on contact between the sexes—her family cut all ties. Sent to live on her own in New York City, adrift and unprepared for the freedoms of secular life, Leah’s desperate loneliness coupled with her stubborn loyalty to the dogma of her past pulled her into a vicious cycle of promiscuity and self-harm.

It took a shocking state of despair to empower her to transform a life of tragedy into a tale of unexpected triumph, one that illuminates both the oppressive world of religious fundamentalism and the broader issues facing young women from all backgrounds as they grapple with sexuality and identity.

In the vein of Prozac Nation and Girl, Interrupted, this brutally honest memoir tells the story of one woman’s struggle to define herself as an individual. (Synopsis from Penguin Books on NetGalley)

Leah Vincent, photo via.

But I’ve never heard of this author….

Leah Vincent is a writer and activist. The first person in her family to go to college, she went on to earn a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School as a Pforzheimer Fellow. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Salon, the Daily Beast, and the Jewish Daily Forward.

So how was it?

As I’ve mentioned several times before, I love a good memoir. And Cut Me Loose is spectacularly good.  Leah’s story was honest to a fault, sharing parts of her life that were both important and painful.

While this is only one woman’s story, this book is gives us a glimpse into the trials faced by people leaving the Ultra-Orthodox community. Things such as – loss of their support system, lack of understanding in certain aspects of secular life, and persecution from the Ultra-Orthodox community. As Leah says at the beginning of her book:

As a girl, I was always told there was only one truth – and it was never mine. Now, as a woman, I know that there is no single truth. We can only convey the raw and awkward shape of reality as we each experience it.

Trigger Warning: This book can be a trigger for some people, as she describes rape, cutting and suicide attempts.

Where can I get my copy?

Cut Me Loose is available now. Get your copy online, or in your favorite brick and mortar store.