The Struggle to Stay

Jemar Tisby, author of The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church's Complicity in Racism:
In The Struggle to Stay, Gaddini does what is rare in a work of scholarship—she marshals deep research while also humanizing her subjects and topic. This book will be an indispensable part of the growing scholarship that reevaluates modern evangelicalism in relation to gender. Gaddini is analytical without being aloof, empathetic without being saccharine. Many readers of this book will feel both seen and informed along the way. In the end, The Struggle to Stay, accomplishes what it set out to do—it describes the conundrum of single evangelical women in churches and the price they pay to remain there.

T. M. Luhrmann, author of How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others:
The Struggle to Stay offers a vivid, enlightening glimpse into the complex contradictions of Christian life. These women want to stay in the church. But they also want to be sexually active and respected as equals—and that is hard. This book gives a rich, nuanced account of why and how it is hard that respects the complexities of the religious experience. A beautifully written, vivid, insightful book about being a bright Christian woman.