Waiting to Exhale

When this book premiered in the mid-nineties, I was fairly young but absolutely shook by these grown thirtysomething women’s stories of not just finding romance but finding themselves with a lot of help from their friends. You will be hard-pressed to pick a favorite character among Savannah, Robin, Bernadine, and Gloria but I will give you a tip: Don’t even try. They are all strong, exuberant, and self-determined professional women at the centers of their families and communities. The search for real, true, lasting love plays out across one year in Arizona that changes their lives. On nearly every page,… show more.

I don’t think you can talk about books that celebrate strong friendships without mentioning Waiting to Exhale. McMillan’s classic tale about four Black women learning to love themselves as they navigate relationships has been the standard for storytelling about Black female friendships since it came out in 1992. You’ll laugh, cry, get angry, and ultimately feel empowered by the end of it to take on the world—as long as your friends are right there with you.