Readers might discuss what the effects might be of McMillan's incorporation into her narrative of frequent expletives, slang expressions, and references to product brand names and stars of popular culture. Does this technique, which gives the novel such an upbeat, contemporary flavor, tend in the long run to weaken the enduring messages McMillan introduces?

It should prove fruitful to consider also the crossover qualities in the novel— those elements that give it an interracial appeal. Readers might like to discuss the novel in relation to Waiting to Exhale, and consider whether the character Stella is a mere update of the four women in the earlier work.

1. How would you categorize the novel? Is it a romance? A memoir? Social commentary?

2. One segment of critical opinion holds that the novel lacks the element of real conflict that ordinarily carries a story.

Is Stella's soul-searching adequate to...