Terry McMillan's Women

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Terry McMillan's Women

Terry McMillan grabs her audience's attention by filling her books with romance, tension, and sex: "...it's the roiling currents among family, friends and lovers that McMillan is most comfortable writing about" (Skow 77). Her customary characters are strong African-American women who are well off; many have jobs, families, and security. Although these women seemingly have all these necessities, they long for more. As they experience life, they embark on an "eternal search for connection" (Donahue n. pag.). They create bonds with friends, siblings and children, but, above all, McMillan stresses their relationships with men. McMillan's maincharacters need these close ties to other people to survive and be happy.

Women depend on other women in each book. Friends and sisters help fill a void by giving and needing support, but these relationships fulfill only part of the connection they long for. In Waiting to Exhale the bonds between four women are solid. They support one another during rough times with men, husbands, jobs and all the obstacles life has to offer. In Disappearing Acts Zora can always get advice and support from her three friends with dilemmas such as pregnancy, epilepsy, and obsesity. Stella receives coaching and reassurance from her sisters in How Stella Got her Groove Back.

Although close friends strengthen one against the troublesome events in life and provide a release for the protagonists' thoughts, they have their drawbacks. Friends need attention and support of their own. In many instances all that they can offer is their judgment and criticism. Portia, one of Zora's close friends in Disappearing Acts, explains the need for independence from advice by sa...

... middle of paper ...

...e between reliance on others to make one happy and one's own efforts for self-fulfillment.

Works Cited

Donahue, Deirdre. "McMillan Slips into a Vivid, One-Note 'Groove'." USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life /enter/books/leb353.htm (28 April 1999).

McMillan, Terry. Disappearing Acts. New York: Pocket Books, 1989.

_____. How Stella Got Her Groove Back. New York: Signet, 1996.

_____. "Ma'Dear." National Endowment for the Arts. http://arts.endow.gov/explore.Writers/Terry.html (22 May 1999).

_____. Waiting to Exhale. New York: Viking, 1992.

Porter, Evette. "My Novel, My Self." Village Voice. May 21, 1996

Randolph, Laura B. "Me As I Wanna Be (Or How To Get Your Groove Back)." Ebony. May 1993, 20.

Skow, John. "Some Groove." Time. May 6, 1996, 77.

Wilkerson, Isabel. "On Top of the World." Essence. June 1996, 50.

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