A major theme of Waiting to Exhale is the notion of holding one’s breath as one waits for the life they desire to begin. Each of the four protagonists is a middle-aged woman with unmet aspirations, many of which center on love—or at least they think so. The novel revolves around their attempts to fulfill their unmet needs while juggling the demands of their professions, families, and money. In the end, each woman finds clarity regarding her true needs and desires, as well as the realization that life is already happening, regardless of the roadblocks they perceive.

Savannah is an ambitious professional who is tired of spending weekends and holidays alone and who feels pressure from her family, particularly her mother and sister, to marry and have children. Savannah isn’t sure she wants to have children, but she would like to have a companion who cares for her and shares in her passions. Robin is also a professional woman, but her dream is to quit her job and have a family. While Robin is good at her job, she does not have the same professional ambition Savannah has. By the end of the novel, both Savannah’s and Robin’s character arcs bend toward both self-reliance and motherhood: Savannah realizes she doesn’t need a man to have companionship and decides to speak to an adoption agent, and Robin realizes that her dreams of motherhood aren’t predicated on a man or giving up her job.