Julia Haart

My problem with reviewing Brazen is that it is a biography, mostly about Julia Haart as well as her family, friends and many others; real, living, breathing people. So I will not criticize anyone directly.

What I will say is Brazen is very readable, compelling and moving. And about 1/3 too long.

But... I have been feeling that many books I've been reading over the last few years are too long. These books could be shortened without losing their message, focus or appeal.

Knowing lots about Judaism, but not nearly as much as I should; I found Julia's life story to be believable and heartlessly sad. She definitely needed to change her prospects. I was glad Julia had acknowledged the strengths and weaknesses of her community's unrealistic and demanding expectations of daughters, women, wives and mothers. She spends many difficult years considering her options realistically, intelligently, and emotionally.

But the last 25% of the book read less authenticly, less believable and more rushed and frenzied.

People can benefit from reading Brazen. Learning to recognize the unhealthy and demeaning parts of our lives, it is crucial to search for ideas, methods and skills to change both spiritually and physically. .… (meer)

This inspiring memoir is a perfect read for Mother’s Day. It is a riveting tale of an ultra-Orthodox mother of 4 who had reached a breaking point in her life and decided to flee the fundamentalist life that was strangling her soul. Within a week of her escape, Haart founded a shoe brand, and within nine months she was at Paris Fashion Week. Just a few years later, she was named creative director of La Perla and would go on to become a co-owner and CEO of Elite World Group and one of the most powerful people in the fashion industry. Her story is “an inspiration for women everywhere to find their freedom and their purpose and their voice.” Spoiler alert – some of the reviews from other orthodox women feel that Haart’s depiction of her ultra-orthodox life and restrictions were greatly exaggerated.… (meer)