Matriarch: a memoir

The mother tree

Prelude: under the pecan tree

Act one: a daughter. Badass Tenie B ; Galveston ; Weeks island ; Holy rosary ; Claiming our power ; Dreaming within the lines ; Hellhounds on our trail ; Ladies and gentlemen, the Veltones ; An education in liberation ; Before I let go ; Golden hour ; Return of the prodigal daughter ; Into the undercurrent ; The persistence of fate

Act two: a mother. Bloodline ; Jazz baby ; It goes by fast ; Order my steps ; Headliners ; Parkwood ; "Those little Knowles girls" ; Lessons in survival ; Three girls ; Bread of life ; The loss is the fuel ; Three sisters ; The dolls ; Mother of invention ; Naming their destiny ; A way out of no way ; The style it takes ; Johnny ; New beginnings ; "Tina is the problem" ; Twenty-first-century women ; Eyes lifted to the mountains ; Joy and pain ; Contemporary American landscapes ; In my fashion ; Before and after ; Frenchy's and veuve clicquot ; The distant beat of wings

Act three: a woman. What becomes of the broken-hearted? ; Soul survivor ; Single in the city ; Get your groove back ; Ready for love ; Louisiana roots ; Tina's angels ; Capri moon ; Cover it with crystals ; Choosing me ; Reading the margins

Finale: the waves at Malibu.