Terry McMillan Books in Order: Waiting to Exhale, Standalone Novels, and More
Terry McMillan has a gift for writing women who feel like people you might know: funny, frustrated, ambitious, complicated, and still trying to figure out what they want from life. Her stories explore friendship, family, love, money, aging, motherhood, and the difficult decisions that can change a person’s direction.
That range is part of what makes her bibliography worth exploring. Waiting to Exhale examines friendship and relationships among four Black women, while Mama follows a family through years of hardship. Later books such as I Almost Forgot About You and It’s Not All Downhill from Here explore what it means to start over, even when life is already well underway.
The reading order is straightforward once you separate her connected novels from her standalone fiction and nonfiction.
1. Waiting to Exhale Books in Order
The Waiting to Exhale books follow four friends whose relationships, careers, and personal choices change over time. The sequel returns to familiar characters, so reading the novels in publication order is the best way to experience their stories.
1. Waiting to Exhale (1992)
Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria, and Robin are four professional Black women living in Phoenix. Their lives look different, but they share the experience of trying to make relationships work while balancing their own needs, expectations, and ambitions.
When love brings disappointment and old assumptions stop serving them, the women turn to one another for support, honesty, and perspective. The novel’s humor comes from the characters’ candid conversations, but its emotional core is the friendship that helps them get through difficult moments.
Waiting to Exhale became one of McMillan’s defining works and helped bring stories centered on the everyday lives of Black women to a broad readership.
2. Getting to Happy (2010)
Nearly two decades later, McMillan revisits the four women. Their lives have moved forward, but reaching a certain age does not mean every problem has been solved. Relationships, family responsibilities, disappointment, and changing ideas about happiness continue to test them.
The sequel is about what happens after the major decisions and turning points of the first book. The women must consider what they want from the next chapter of their lives, rather than assuming the choices that once made sense will continue to work.
Reading order: Waiting to Exhale → Getting to Happy.
If you only read one series by McMillan, this is the one to keep in publication order.
2. Terry McMillan’s Novels in Publication Order
Most of McMillan’s novels are standalones, which means you can read them independently. The list below follows the original publication sequence, with brief descriptions to help you decide what to read next.
1. Mama (1987)
McMillan’s debut novel follows Mildred Peacock, a mother struggling to raise her children amid poverty, difficult relationships, and the pressures of family life. The story spans years, examining the costs of survival and the complicated bond between a mother and her children.
Mildred is not presented as a perfect parent. Her flaws, resilience, and contradictions are part of what makes the novel feel honest. Start here if you want to see the family-centered storytelling that would become a hallmark of McMillan’s work.
2. Disappearing Acts (1989)
Zora Banks is a talented music teacher with ambitions of her own. Franklin Swift is a construction worker whose responsibilities and personal struggles complicate their relationship. Their attraction is powerful, but building a life together proves more difficult than falling in love.
The novel examines what happens when affection collides with money problems, expectations, and the realities of everyday life. It is an intimate, sometimes uncomfortable portrait of a relationship that is neither simple nor easy to dismiss.
3. Waiting to Exhale (1992)
This is McMillan’s landmark novel about Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria, and Robin. Their friendship gives them a place to be honest about romantic disappointment, personal ambition, and the pressure to build lives that look successful from the outside.
Although it is also the opening book of a two-novel series, it can stand on its own as a story about women supporting one another through change.
4. How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1996)
Stella Payne is a successful, middle-aged professional who takes a vacation to Jamaica and finds herself drawn into an unexpected romance with a much younger man. The experience forces her to reconsider what she wants from life and whether she is willing to take a chance on something outside her familiar routine.
The novel explores desire, age, independence, and the social expectations surrounding relationships. It is a good choice for readers who enjoy romance with questions about identity and personal reinvention.
5. A Day Late and a Dollar Short (2001)
Viola Price worries about the future of her adult children, each of whom is struggling with personal problems and complicated relationships. As family tensions rise, the novel explores the ways old patterns can follow people into adulthood.
The story moves among family perspectives, giving readers a broader view of how one person’s decisions affect everyone around them. It is especially suited to readers who enjoy multigenerational family dramas rather than a single central romance.
6. The Interruption of Everything (2005)
Marilyn Grimes is a wife and mother who has spent years meeting other people’s needs. As family responsibilities and unexpected changes accumulate, she begins to question whether the life she has built leaves enough room for herself.
McMillan uses Marilyn’s situation to explore marriage, motherhood, aging, and the desire to reclaim a sense of individuality. The novel is a natural pick for readers interested in the tension between caring for others and figuring out who you are outside those responsibilities.
7. Getting to Happy (2010)
This is the sequel to Waiting to Exhale, returning to Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria, and Robin. It belongs in the connected-series reading order rather than being treated as an unrelated standalone.
8. Who Asked You? (2013)
Who is expected to hold a family together when everyone else is dealing with their own problems? In this novel, Betty Jean’s life changes when she becomes responsible for her young grandchildren while navigating the challenges surrounding her adult children.
The story looks at family loyalty, addiction, caregiving, and the demands placed on women who are expected to keep everything functioning. McMillan balances difficult subjects with humor and recognizable family dynamics.
9. I Almost Forgot About You (2016)
Dr. Georgia Young has a successful career, a family, and good friends, but she feels restless and uncertain about what comes next. Rather than accepting that her life should remain as it is, she begins making changes and opens herself to new experiences.
Georgia’s story is about rediscovering herself rather than simply finding another relationship. Readers who enjoy novels about second chances, personal growth, and the courage to make a major life change will likely connect with it.
10. It’s Not All Downhill from Here (2020)
Loretha Curry is approaching her sixty-eighth birthday with a thriving business, longtime friends, and a life she has worked hard to build. An unexpected loss forces her to reconsider what matters and how she wants to live the years ahead.
The novel challenges the assumption that a woman’s best days must be behind her as she gets older. It explores grief, friendship, resilience, and the possibility of renewed purpose without pretending that change is always easy.
This is a particularly good choice for readers who want an affirming story about aging and beginning again.
3. Terry McMillan’s Other Books
McMillan has also published nonfiction, edited an important fiction anthology, and brought together shorter pieces from across her career. These books are worth including if you want more than the novels.
Breaking Ice: An Anthology of Contemporary African-American Fiction (1990)
McMillan edited this anthology of contemporary African American fiction. It is different from her own novels because it brings together work by multiple writers rather than telling one continuous story.
For readers interested in the wider literary context surrounding McMillan’s career, this collection offers a useful way to explore other voices alongside her fiction.
It’s OK if You’re Clueless: And 23 More Tips for the College Bound (2006)
This advice book is aimed at young people preparing for college. Instead of exploring a fictional family or romantic relationship, it offers practical guidance for students facing a major transition.
It is a useful addition to a complete bibliography, although readers who know McMillan primarily through her novels may find it a very different experience.
It Was the Way She Said It: Short Stories, Essays, and Wisdom (2025)
This collection brings together short fiction, essays, reflections, and other pieces from across McMillan’s career, including previously published material and work that had not appeared in a single volume before.
The collection offers another way to experience her writing voice. Rather than following one fictional plot, readers encounter her observations on relationships, culture, aging, writing, and the experiences that have shaped her perspective.
Choose this book if you enjoy McMillan’s voice and want to read beyond her full-length novels. It also provides a view of her work across different stages of her career.
4. Which Terry McMillan Book Should You Read First?
The right starting point depends on what you want from the reading experience. You do not need to begin with her debut if another subject appeals to you more.
- For friendship and relationship drama: Start with Waiting to Exhale. Its four central characters and their candid conversations are a defining example of McMillan’s style.
- For a big family story: Choose Mama or A Day Late and a Dollar Short. Both explore the ways family relationships shape people’s lives over time.
- For romance and reinvention: Read How Stella Got Her Groove Back. It is about desire, independence, and challenging expectations about age.
- For starting over later in life: Try I Almost Forgot About You or It’s Not All Downhill from Here.
- For the complete connected story: Read Waiting to Exhale before Getting to Happy.
- For shorter, reflective writing: Pick up It Was the Way She Said It.
If you’re new to McMillan, I would start with Waiting to Exhale if friendship is what draws you in, or Mama if you prefer a sweeping family story. Both give you a strong introduction to her interest in how people love, disappoint, support, and sometimes misunderstand one another.
5. Terry McMillan’s Books on Screen
McMillan’s best-known novels have also reached audiences through film and television adaptations. These adaptations are worth mentioning because many readers discover her work through the screen before picking up the books.
Waiting to Exhale
The 1995 film adaptation stars Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon. It brought the friendship and relationship struggles of Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria, and Robin to the screen and became a major cultural touchstone.
Read the novel first if you want the fuller experience of the characters’ thoughts, relationships, and personal decisions.
How Stella Got Her Groove Back
The 1998 film stars Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs, and Whoopi Goldberg. It adapts Stella’s trip to Jamaica and her unexpected romance, retaining the story’s interest in age, desire, and taking chances.
Disappearing Acts
The novel was adapted into a television film released in 2000, starring Sanaa Lathan and Wesley Snipes. The story’s focus on an intense relationship and the everyday pressures surrounding it makes it a natural fit for readers interested in character-driven drama.
A Day Late and a Dollar Short
The novel was adapted into a television film released in 2014, starring Whoopi Goldberg. The adaptation brings the Price family’s conflicts and Viola’s concerns about her children to the screen.
These adaptations are a useful companion to the books, but they do not replace the novels’ fuller treatment of the characters and their inner lives.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books has Terry McMillan written?
Her bibliography includes ten major novels published between 1987 and 2020, including the two Waiting to Exhale books, as well as nonfiction, an edited anthology, and the 2025 collection It Was the Way She Said It. Counting books can vary depending on whether edited collections and nonfiction are included.
What is the correct order of the Waiting to Exhale books?
Read Waiting to Exhale (1992) first, followed by Getting to Happy (2010). The second novel returns to the same four central women years later.
Is How Stella Got Her Groove Back part of a series?
No. How Stella Got Her Groove Back is a standalone novel and can be read independently of the Waiting to Exhale books.
What was Terry McMillan’s first book?
Mama, published in 1987, was McMillan’s debut novel. It follows Mildred Peacock and her family through hardship, complicated relationships, and the effort to build a better life.
What is Terry McMillan’s latest book?
It Was the Way She Said It: Short Stories, Essays, and Wisdom was released in 2025. Publisher listings also show a paperback edition scheduled for September 2026, so the date you see may depend on the edition.
Are Terry McMillan’s novels connected?
Most are standalone novels. The main exception is Waiting to Exhale and its sequel Getting to Happy, which share the same central characters and should be read in that order.
Which Terry McMillan book is best for first-time readers?
Waiting to Exhale is an excellent introduction to her writing about friendship and relationships. Mama is another strong starting point if you prefer a family-centered story.
Final Note
Terry McMillan’s books are best approached as portraits of people trying to make a life that feels right to them, even when relationships, family responsibilities, or changing circumstances get in the way. Start with Waiting to Exhale and Getting to Happy for her connected story, or choose a standalone such as Mama, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, or It’s Not All Downhill from Here based on the themes that interest you most.
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