Terry McMillan's breakthrough novel "Waiting to Exhale," about women in Phoenix negotiating variations of romantic turmoil, broke the color barrier to dominate the best-seller lists and inspired a Forest Whitaker film. It also made guys look like dogs, which was just the icing on the cake for its amused fans.
Now, after three other novels, McMillan has returned to Savannah, Gloria, Bernadine and Robin as they suffer through various midlife crises, some but not all related to the opposite sex (looming menopause, pill and porn addiction, money and job issues, family chaos and sudden death among them).
Their troubles are more pressing, more serious than before, and for obvious reasons: The friends are older, and there is less time left to get things right.
They all thought by fiftysomething they'd be settled, happy, content. Instead, they're still not exhaling comfortably.
"Getting to Happy" is pretty much required reading for anyone who cared about "Waiting to Exhale," although it has problems. Some of the dialogue is stilted and preachy.
Some of the issues are dispatched too easily; McMillan's characters all have unending supplies of money, so the financial crises aren't terribly daunting.
Overall, we're pretty lucky that she returned to these old friends.
'Getting
to Happy'
by Terry McMillan
Viking/ $27.95)
