Julia Haart. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Julia Haart, the star of Netflix’s “My Unorthodox Life,” published a memoir on Tuesday about her journey from an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Monsey, NY, to her career as a fashion mogul and head of an international talent agency.

The book, “Brazen: My Unorthodox Journey from Long Sleeves to Lingerie,” recounts Haart’s life, from an unhappy marriage at the age of 19 to her leaving an Orthodox community at the age of 42. She later founded a shoe brand, became the creative director of the lingerie company La Perla, and is now co-owner and CEO of the Elite World Group agency.

The book also delves into family history, including her grandfather’s service as as Soviet general in World War II and her father’s role as head the young ­adult arm of the Communist Party. Haart’s father remained a devoted communist until he met her mother in the Soviet Union, when together they began following a religious Jewish life.

When “My Unorthodox Life” was first released on Netflix in July 2021, it drew criticism from women in the Jewish community for its negative portrayal of Orthodox Judaism. In the show, Haart criticizes Judaism, calls the Orthodox Jewish community “dangerous” and describes her youngest son’s religious practices as “super loony.”

An “author’s note” in Haart’s new memoir appears to respond to those critics, saying: “I want to be clear. I love being a Jew. I am proud of my heritage and I do not believe that the way I was brought up has anything to do with Judaism. Like other religions all over the world, Judaism is about love and caring for one another and living for purpose higher than your own self-interest.”

“I think all religions are beautiful and have these moralistic concepts at their core,” it continues. “It is only when they are perverted by extremists who see any change to archaic laws as a direct defiance to God that something meant to improve the world and humankind becoming an intolerable prison.”

Haart also called her move to leave her religious lifestyle behind “a journey born of such unendurable misery that I had to flee or die.” She said the “restrictions” of her former community “shackled my life,” and that she spent “the first forty-two years of my life in utter misery.”