Cut Me Loose

Sin and Salvation After My Ultra-Orthodox Girlhood

by Leah Vincent

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Pub Date May 12 2015 | Archive Date Jun 12 2015

PENGUIN GROUP Penguin | Penguin Books

Description

"Visceral and uplifting." -- The Daily Beast

A raw and electrifying memoir about a young woman’s journey from self-destruction to redemption, after cutting ties with her ultra-Orthodox Jewish family

For fans of the television series Unorthodox and Shtisel, this brutally honest memoir tells the story of one woman’s quest to define herself as an individual. Leah Vincent was born into the Yeshivish community, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect. As the daughter of an influential rabbi, she was taught to worship two things: God, and the men who ruled their society.
Then, at sixteen, Leah was caught exchanging letters with a boy, violating religious law that forbids contact between members of the opposite sex. Shunned by her family, she was cast out of her home, alone and adrift in New York City, unprepared for the freedoms of secular life and unaccustomed to the power and peril inherent in her own sexuality. Fast-paced, harrowing, mesmerizing, and ultimately triumphant, Leah's story illuminates both the oppressive world of religious fundamentalism and the broader issues facing young women of all backgrounds.

Advance Praise

“Wrenching ... Her book should be read, not just as a warning of the very real dangers of the world, but also of the price to be paid when, in the name of religion, people forget humanity.”

—The Wall Street Journal

“A sometimes-sweet, sometimes-harrowing memoir by a smart, passionate ultra-Orthodox girl. . . .

engrossing and so thoughtfully written, and never mocks the traditions and values of a culture that few

of us can fully comprehend.”—People.com

“Painfully raw.”— New York Post

“Gripping. . . . Readers will appreciate Vincent's uncensored honesty in sharing the horrors of her past.”

—The Washington Post

“Visceral and uplifting.” —The Daily Beast

“As thoughtful and heroic as it is gripping and tragic ... riveting and relatable ... [Vincent] familiarizes, rather than exoticizes, the life she's led ... The finest example of this sort of memoir yet.” —Flavorwire

“Wrenching ... Her book should be read, not just as a warning of the very real dangers of the world, but also of the price to be paid when, in the name of religion, people forget humanity.”

—The...