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| Leah Vincent: Courtesy of leahvincent.wordpress.com |
Full title. Cut Me Loose: Sin and Salvation After My Ultra-Orthodox Girlhood by Leah Vincent
Leah’s first disgrace came about when, in her mid-teens, she was found to be corresponding with the brother of a close friend. Still, although this was viewed as besmirching herself, and potentially the family as a whole, they were willing to allow her to redeem herself-if she did not stray again from those rules which were meant to be part of her marrow.
Marriage and motherhood were meant to be the absolute goals of anyone in Leah’s position. Initially, she viewed this as her ultimate destiny. Then, having lived for a while with her married older sister and observing the humility of her life, its appeal quickly dwindled.
Eventually, Leah was sent to New York to a comparatively liberal school, as no Orthodox school would enroll a girl who had written letters to a young man.
Increasingly ignored by her family, Leah turned to romances which proved bogus and false. In time, she turned to self-harming and overdosing on pills in order to distract herself from the despair borne of emptiness. The candor with which she chronicles this part of her life is both astounding and moving.
Leah’s anguish continued, until one older lover made a suggestion that would entirely change the path of her life. Though ultimately his affection proved hollow, his advice impelled her to take risks which resulted in avenues of success she could not have dared to envision without his encouragement.
Having come to accept her family’s bigotry regarding any choices which did not conform to their beliefs, she was able to overcome this wound and begin her separate life, with its own joys and pitfalls.
The raw honesty of Leah Vincent’s account leaves those of us with families who place no conditions on love feeling deepened compassion for those who do not, combined with renewed gratitude for our own.
