Elisabeth Adams

Do you ever read a novel and think, “This is me. This book is about my life”?

That’s the way I feel about my friend Natasha Metzler’s new novel, Emma and the Reasons. The story’s about Emma, Shari and Tecana, three young women: one fiery, one sweet and one steadfast, who share a little house, a shoe collection, and the fact that they have “reasons” for their singleness: some God-given, others-oriented callings that keep them full of joy and purpose and fruit.

Besides their jobs as realtor, social worker, and librarian, their lives are full. Children keep showing up at their door to be welcomed for brief seasons. There are also the young women in whom they invest, and the married friends whom they meet for coffee every week.

And then!

Well, what if you went to a supposed-to-be-with-your-married-friends party, and saw pickup trucks amongst the minivans?

Life becomes a little complicated, a little awkward, and a lot hilarious for Emma, Tecana and Shari when a group of their married friends secretly conspire to matchmake them. Their adventures (and misadventures) had me laughing aloud, and nodding in agreement. Oh yes, this is what it’s like to be single in your thirties (and beyond). Frustrating, disappointing, messy; unpredictable, growth-inducing — and hilarious.

Emma and the Reasons painted a picture of community that I recognize: the deeply loyal mutual support between single women, the bracing encouragement of knowing godly men who embody a little of what Jesus is, and the humbling gift of unselfish married friends who passionately come alongside me in prayer.

Emma, Shari and Tecana’s stories also threw a new light on my own story, reminding me of the power, dignity, and beauty of a single life, when it’s a life of purpose. Beyond telling me to value the gift I have, it helped me feel that it’s a treasure not to be lightly thrown away.

I’m not sure if I would have believed you, if you had told me a novel could touch on all these things: the sorrow, hope, humor and satisfaction of the single life, and the beauty of throwing fear aside and moving into marriage. But I think Emma and the Reasons portrays them all in a beautifully refreshing way. I hope you find refreshment in it, too!