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

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.

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.
.

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.

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.

Extremely poor narration

The narrator uses a demeaning accent for Black characters and couldn’t be bothered to learn the correct pronunciation for almost any of the Jewish cultural terms or names. Almost sounds like a voice to text robot. Absolutely horrible and took away from what was otherwise an interesting story.

In the end I didn't like her

The first half of this book was great. Leah tells her story well, adding details that make it interesting and make you really root for her. As she makes her way out on her own, you can see the mistakes she's about to make and you want to help her. It's a great roller coaster ride as you grow up with her.

After about 2/3's of the book though, it fell apart for me. I just didn't care anymore about how she became more and more pathetic. In one scene with her and her dad, I completing agreed with everything her dad said to her, and I think the reader (listener) was supposed to be appalled by it.

I think I might have sympathized with her more if she'd told more of her story than just the sex. She became very one-dimensional and that dimension was a simpering, shallow sycophant. If she'd talked more about her job, how and why she got a promotion, or describe the neighborhoods she lived in, anything to add another facet then just sex.

The narrator didn't help with the "simpering" part. I was so tired of her whining that I almost didn't finish the book. I saw that I had only one hour left and I decided to push through. But by the ending, I truly didn't care at all what happened to her. I know it sounds harsh, but I was disappointed, especially since I'd been so drawn in by the first half of her story.

I do not recommend this book.

A Strong Woman, Not a Strong Book

I feel like there could have been so much to this autobiography, but there was not. So many missed opportunities. The author had many struggles, and I know I would have not had the ability to deal with all of this on my own as she did, or been as successful in the end. I hope I could, but it would have been a true test of my will. Overall, this was okay, but not great. I especially got tired of the last hour or so and hearing about how she felt she truly made it. I honestly could not wait for this book to be over. Save your time and credit, or money, and pass on this book.

What a waste of time

Frankly, I am not sure why I even persevered to read this book to the end. She clearly had no respect for herself. We don’t get to choose our families, that’s true but, having grown up in a dysfunctional family myself, where you don’t feel important, valued, or wanted means that you have to work extra hard to learn coping skills along the way and to fashion a life that is healthy, productive and satisfactory. No one forced her to live the life that she did. The bad language and the descriptive language did not add to the story. Glad that she turned her life around in the end but, she caused most of her problems herself and unfortunately, she paid a big price and suffered a great deal for her choices. Being poor and not liking the way she was raised, was not an excuse for trashing her life. Too many excuses for choices she made to justify screwing up her life.

Cut me loose is a waste of time

Don’t waste your time with this book. I can’t believe anyone so sexually promiscuous would write a tell all book. Harold, the head of the English department at the Brooklyn college should have been fired. I doubt Leah was the first girl he exploited.