Getting to Happy

by Terry McMillan

First published 2010

Savannah discovers a devastating secret in her own home that destroys her failing marriage. As a broadcast investigative journalist, she built her career exposing scandals, but nothing prepared her for this betrayal. Her three friends face their own battles. Bernie struggles with pill addiction and memory problems while dealing with worse man troubles than ever before. Robin loses her job in a corporate merger and stumbles through disastrous online dates, her shopping addiction spiraling out of control. Gloria keeps her Oasis salon running but suffers through back to back family tragedies that shake her to the core. The women lean on each other through four way phone calls and movie nights, even as life pulls them in different directions. Their adult children bring new complications. Bernadine's daughter Onika navigates college, Robin's daughter Sparrow creates her own drama, and Gloria's married son Tariq struggles with young children and mounting problems. Through job losses, addiction, heartbreak, and family crises, the four friends discover that their bond remains their greatest strength in pursuing happiness.

Genres: fiction, contemporary, family-drama

Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking

Tropes: found-family, second-chance

Setting: Oasis

375 pages · Hardcover · Viking

Content warnings: addiction, depression, mental-illness

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