It Was the Way She Said It: Short Stories, Essays, and Wisdom

“This stunning collection from one of the great writers on Black culture covers the gamut: aging, love, poverty, trauma and plenty of lightness in between.”—People From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Waiting to Exhale comes a remarkable, career-spanning collection of previously published short fiction and nonfiction pieces, as well as never-before-seen works. Before Terry McMillan found success as a novelist in the early 1990s, she published provocative, boundary-pushing short stories, capturing the struggles and triumphs of Black life in America with vitality and honesty, from the workaday factory man’s malaise in “The End” to the cast-aside lover’s resolve in “Touching” to the elderly woman’s wiles in “Ma’Dear.” McMillan’s inimitable voice bravely explores the dark corners of human relationships with compassion, humor, and nuance.