Cut Me Loose

Sin and Salvation After My Ultra-Orthodox Girlhood

By: Leah Vincent

Narrated by: Emily Durante

Leah Vincent was born into the Yeshivish community, a fundamentalist sect of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. As the daughter of an influential rabbi, Leah and her ten siblings were raised to worship two things: God and the men who ruled their world. But the tradition-bound future Leah envisioned for herself was cut short when, at sixteen, she was caught exchanging letters with a male friend, a violation of religious law that forbids contact between members of the opposite sex. Leah's parents were unforgiving.

Afraid, in part, that her behavior would affect the marriage prospects of their other children, they put her on a plane and cut off ties. Cast out in New York City, without a father or husband tethering her to the Orthodox community, Leah was unprepared to navigate the freedoms of secular life. She spent the next few years using her sexuality as a way of attracting the male approval she had been conditioned to seek out as a child, while becoming increasingly unfaithful to the religious dogma of her past.

Fast-paced, mesmerizing, and brutally honest, Cut Me Loose tells the story of one woman's harrowing struggle to define herself as an individual. Through Leah's eyes, we confront not only the oppressive world of religious fundamentalism, but also the broader issues that face even the most secular young women as they grapple with sexuality and identity.

©2014 Leah Vincent (P)2014 Tantor

Amazing woman

This book was referred to me by a friend who also left the community.

Such a great book, Well written but yet still careful.
I admire the strength and courage of the woman.
.

The narration nearly ruined this book

Would you try another book from Leah Vincent and/or Emily Durante?

I would read another Leah Vincent book. I found her prose engaging and smooth. I would never listen to an Emily Durante narration. While her voice is pleasant, she turned this book into a farce.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this story, and found it hard to stop listening at times. I have a Jewish background, and am familiar enough with the Haredi community to know that it is true-to-life. Vincent's determination and struggle were inspiring, and her pain was made palpable.

However, the voice narrating was all wrong. The fake accents and fake male voices made even deadly serious scenes seems cartoonish. Her rendering of the author's timidity in a breathy, whiny voice made the author seem annoying and unlikeable. Just terrible and should be re-recorded in Vincent's own voice.

Wow...

This is a hard listen. As the mother of a beautiful, talented, intelligent daughter-- I cannot even begin to understand what madness her parents were enveloped by-- that would allow them to reject their daughter. Abandon her first in Israel and again in New York City.

It is child abuse masquerading as religious devotion.

Good for her that survived.

Her parents. I'm not sure I would ever find it in me to forgive them...

A powerful book, a powerful story.

It’s hard to listen to at many points, but worth it

This is a shocking story because the author uses her body so much and is has sex with men who don’t mean anything and don’t care about her; but her metamorphosis into a Harvard student is inspiring. I recommend this for anyone interested in stories of people leaving ultra orthodox Jewry.

Good story; bad accent

This was a great book, but it was frustrating that the reader mispronounced even the most basic of Hebrew terms, including the name of a major character. It really took away from the story. But otherwise, it was a solid performance and a good read.