Terry McMillan's novels explore issues relevant to African Americans in contemporary American society. McMillan is interested especially in African American women, and her female characters struggle with and celebrate motherhood, cope with troubled romantic relationships, look for successful careers, and search for both personal and cultural identity. The commercial success of McMillan's novels began with Waiting to Exhale (1992), which stayed on The New York Times best-seller list for several months, sold nearly four million copies, and earned McMillan $2.64 million for paperback rights, the second-largest amount in publishing history. McMillan continues to entertain her readers with realistic portrayals of contemporary African American society, depictions of resilient women, and humor.

Terry L. McMillan was born on 18 October 1951, the first of five children born to Edward Lewis McMillan and Madeline Washington Tillman. She grew up in Port Huron, Michigan, a suburb roughly sixty miles outside of Detroit. Her parents divorced when...