Uncovered is the only memoir to tell of a gay woman leaving the hasidic fold. Told in understated, crystalline prose, Leah Lax begins her story as a young teen leaving her secular home to become a hasidic Jew, then plumbs the nuances of her arranged marriage, fundamentalist faith, and hasidic motherhood as, all the while, creative, sexual, and spiritual longings tremble beneath the surface.
This book gives an excellent picture of what it is like to live in the Hasidic community, particularly for the women. It was a real eye opener.
I learned a lot about the Jewish religion
Writing at its best!
Leah Lax’s memoir, UNCOVERED, is a “truly mesmerizing “ (Redbook) and unusually honest story of self-discovery. In gorgeous prose Lax details an early life in a middle class, secular home where she felt an ongoing hunger for structure and order that her parents couldn’t satisfy. Once she was a young adult, against her parents’ wishes she joined a Hasidic community, entered an arranged marriage, and lived a rule-bound life. While Lax never stopped admiring the beauty in her chosen faith, she chafed increasingly at the “covering” of hair, ambition, artistry, and intellect that Hasidic patriarchy required of her and all married women. Seven grown children later, Leah was able to uncover herself—claiming both her impressive set of capabilities and long-denied sexual desires for women. Booklist called UNCOVERED “fascinating and insightful.” LABDA Literary lauded it for “resist[ing] codified narratives.” This is an extraordinary story told exceptionally well.
A peek into a culture about which very little is known
Interesting but it got hard to relate at some point as she really was fixated on her father b
I didn’t really connect with the characters in this book, even though I have had a lot to do with the Orthodox community. The main character actually annoyed me and her life seemed to go in directions that it didn’t have to go. She made her choice and wasn’t happy with it but if you want to learn more about Orthodox Judaism this is interesting. Not a book I would keep or ever reread but I’m glad I read it once
This biographical sad story spans almost a lifetime. It is embelished wirh many believable details of Hasidic customs and traditions, as presumably experienced by the author. It describes how she joined the Hasidic comunity as a secular young girl, married, had eight children and eventually left her husband, her family and the comunity to fulfill herself as a gay woman. Despite the large family supported mainly by the hard work of her husband, she was never able to develop a close connection with him. The story does not attempt to present his side. I had a hard time attributing this situation to religious believes or Hasidic traditions. It is more likely that a molesting father, mentioned briefly in the book, left her scarred and unable to enjoy a more intimate relationship with her husband. I felt bad for him and the fact he embraced her for many years as his wife and mother of his children. Life is not always fare, and he ended paying the price of his mistake when she left him.
A fascinating look at the Hasidim and what it is like to be a woman in their community of faith.
Interesting and informative look at an alternate lifestyle. Disappointed in Leah’s ability to recognize from the beginning that she was not comfortable with this life but staying with it so long nonetheless. I guess I just don’t understand being willing to be so unhappy to fit in.
Fascinating story!
Memorable
This was a fantastic look into the daily life of Hasaidic Jews. I highly recommend it!
I am fascinated by the Hasidic way of life and the way use women, and the way women are so schooled to believe they should be subservient to the husband. In this day and age it is a head scratcher.
Didn’t realize the main character was gay and not raised in Hasidic culture, so her “leaving” it, and the reasons therefor, weren’t compelling.
Very insightful to a sect of Jews, but somewhat confusing of the women it’s written about.
A fascinating insight into the world of Hasidism. The author’s struggle and her final self discovery leading to her personal liberation is most inspirational. Well written, her story never drags. Highly recommended.
Just couldn’t get into it. Didn’t finish it. The subject is interesting to me. I am very familiar with Chassidic lifestyle. But there was something that just didn’t ring true about Lisa. I might give it another go someday but not for a while.
I found this to be a compelling read. This true story of one woman’s seeking to heal from a dysfunctional, disordered childhood through a religion that offered structure and rules was fascinating.
Uncovered by Leah Lax is her memoir of leaving her Hasidic Jewish community and becoming herself. It might be read in conjunction with Concealed by Esther Amini, also a memoir of leaving a fundamental Jewish family and becoming an integrated person.
Lax, a Texan with Russian Jewish roots, has been raised in a dysfunctional family. Her mother is an artist and hoarder, with alcohol and pill addictions. Her father is depressed and has sexually abused his three daughters. Though nominally Jewish, her family is essentially non-practicing. Seeking stability in this environment, Lax joins a Hasidic community. There, she enters into an arranged marriage, but gives up her music and literary aspiration to do so. Seven children and much self-exploration later , she realizes she needs to leave the Hasidic life to write and to release the lesbian within her that she has buried for years. This book explores her reasons for both joining the community and for leaving it. Lax shapes her memoir carefully, providing clues along the way so the reader can understand what she gives up to join the Hasidic community and what appeals to her about it, and conversely, what she loses when she relinquishes that community after twenty-seven years and what she gains.
Of Persian Jewish descent, Esther grows up in Queens, New York during the 1960s. Her family immigrated from Mashad, Iran, where life even in the twentieth century, remained rather medieval. Her parents had to practice Judaism “underground” while maintaining the appearance of being Muslims. Eventually, they fled Iran for New York City. Their exit involved escaping via Afghanistan and India where they waited for clearance to move to the United States. Her father is a silent man. Her mother is the polar opposite, always demanding, wanting preferential treatment because she was an orphan. While embracing all that is American (including designer clothing), she encourages Esther to find her own way.
These books, both memoirs of Jewish women from difficult backgrounds, have similar themes—the need to leave a more structured, orthodox community to become one’s true self. Even the names of the books convey that sense, but perhaps in mirror images: Concealed referring to the hiding of women behind the fundamentalism and Uncovered referring to the release from that structured environment. Concealed is a more boisterous book, partly due to the exuberance of Amino’s mother; Concealed is more quiet and internalized. Both memoirs worth reading as Lax and Amini ultimately must work their ways through conflicting childhoods and arranged marriages to learn what to retain and what to dismiss. Each grapples with her identity, while remaining devoted to her family.