Waiting to Exhale

Waiting to Exhale is a novel by acclaimed author Terry McMillan. Published in 1992, Waiting to Exhale is one of the first novels to showcase the private lives of middle-class, professional Black women. The novel follows the lives of four women—Savannah, Bernadine, Robin, and Gloria—as they navigate their way through romantic, professional, and legal entanglements while supporting each other with a friendship that survives it all. Thematically, the novel explores the midlife experience of “waiting” for life to begin, betrayals and disappointments in relationships, and cultural expectations surrounding dating. In 2010, McMillan released a sequel to Waiting to Exhale called Getting to Happy that revisits Savannah, Bernadine, Robin, and Gloria 15 years later.

Waiting to Exhale was made into a major motion picture in 1995, with Forrest Whitaker making his directorial debut. The film stars Angela Basset as Bernadine, Whitney Houston as Savannah, Lela Rochon as Robin, and Lorreta Devine as Gloria. The movie won four Image Awards and spawned a hit song for Whitney Houston, “Exhale (Shoop Shoop).”

This guide references the Kindle e-book version of this book published in January 2006.

Plot Summary

Waiting to Exhale begins on New Year’s Eve in 1989 as Savannah struggles to work up the enthusiasm to meet Lionel, a man her sister introduced her to.