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Unorthodox
- The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots
- Narrated by: Rachel Botchan, Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
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Unorthodox
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Publisher's Summary
Called “brave and riveting” by Jeannette Walls, Deborah Feldman’s New York Times best-selling memoir of escaping from a strict Hasidic community includes a new afterword by the author as well as the epilogues from the original 2012 editions detailing the circumstances of her life after leaving her husband and forging new beginnings for herself and her young son.
As a member of the strictly religious Satmar sect of Hasidic Judaism, Deborah Feldman grew up under a code of relentlessly enforced customs governing everything from what she could wear and to whom she could speak to what she was allowed to read. Yet in spite of her repressive upbringing, Deborah grew into an independent-minded young woman whose stolen moments reading about the empowered literary characters of Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott helped her to imagine an alternative way of life among the skyscrapers of Manhattan. Trapped as a teenager in a sexually and emotionally dysfunctional marriage to a man she barely knew, the tension between Deborah’s desires and her responsibilities as a good Satmar girl grew more explosive until she gave birth at 19 and realized that, regardless of the obstacles, she would have to forge a path - for herself and her son - to happiness and freedom.
Remarkable and fascinating, this “sensitive and memorable coming-of-age story” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) is one you won’t be able to put down.
What listeners say about Unorthodox
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lillian White
- 24-04-2020
Like so many escapees
Like so many cult escapees this story feels a lot like them. It is my first real insight into the Jewish religion. I’ve read many stories of escapes from extremely religious family and Unorthodox is unique. There is no extreme abuse to the main character in Unorthodox but her personal struggle and questioning of what’s been told to her is human nature just as she said, other girls trying to blend in, be normal and unique. Feeling trapped in a situation or a cycle is one only strong willed women can break.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- TruTru
- 23-04-2020
Debra Feldman's true life story
This is the novel on which the popular netflix mini series was based. More detail than the former.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 24-01-2024
Fascinating story.
Extremely well-written and thought provoking recount of life and subsequent escape from the Hasidic community of Williamsburg.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 30-09-2020
Powerful
This is such a powerful and emotional story. Engaging and raw, Unorthodox is a must read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Nora
- 31-05-2020
Memorising!!!😭 So glad she got her Happy ending.
This allowed me to get a glimpse of life in a world I could never have imagined.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 14-11-2021
excellent listen
different from the way the netflix series went, but now I want to re-watch it. excellent listen. very thoughtful and heartfelt.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Paname toujours
- 23-06-2021
What a compelling story
Initially I found the writing overly detailed, but kept on with it as I wanted to know about the hasidic community. I adjusted to her writing style and ended up getting sucked in, taking her journey, fraught with claustrophobia at having to submit to so many, to my mind, anachronistic, misogynistic rules. It is at turns, tragic, alarming, frustrating, terrible and liberating. It will stay with me. Quite a ride.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sara
- 05-04-2020
An Educational Insight
I decided to listen to this after watching the Netflix mini series. I was pleasantly surprised! The story of the main character after she left the Hasidic world is quite different to the series. Most of the book is dedicated to describing her life during her late childhood, teenage years, her wedding experience and her years of marriage. A lot of the flashback scenes in the Netflix series were drawn from this book. I highly recommend this memoir if you are curious to learn more about what it is like to grow up as a Hasidic girl.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- db3772243
- 21-04-2020
riveting
loved it! I like hearing other people's life stories. she certainly had a tough life.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Nick
- 14-06-2020
incredible personal journey
This was an amazing story of a culture I never knew about. it was funny and scary at the same time. no person should be treated as the people are in this community.
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