Matriarch Oprahs Book Club, Tina Knowles
Matriarch Oprahs Book Club, Tina Knowles
4 Rating(s)
List: $27.00 | Sale: $17.29
Club: $13.50

Matriarch: Oprah's Book Club
A Memoir

Bestseller

Author: Tina Knowles

Narrator: Tina Knowles, Beyoncé, Solange, Kelly Rowland, Angie Beyincé

Unabridged: 17 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/22/2025


Synopsis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • A revealing personal life story like no other—enlightening, entertaining, surprising, empowering—and a testament to the world-making power of Black motherhood

“A fascinating memoir of Tina Knowles’s journey to become the global figure she is today.”—Oprah Winfrey

“You are Celestine,” she said. She squatted to push the hair off my face and pull leaves off my pajama legs. “Like my sister and my grandmother.” And there, under the pecan tree, as she did countless times, that day my mother told me stories of the mothers and daughters that went before me.

Tina Knowles, the mother of iconic singer-songwriters Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Solange Knowles, and bonus daughter Kelly Rowland, is known the world over as a Matriarch with a capital M: a determined, self-possessed, self-aware, and wise woman who raised and inspired some of the great artists of our time. But this story is about so much more than that.

Matriarch begins with a precocious, if unruly, little girl growing up in 1950s Galveston, the youngest of seven. She is in love with her world, with extended family on every other porch and the sounds of Motown and the lapping beach always within earshot. But as the realities of race and the limitations of girlhood set in, she begins to dream of a more grandiose world. Her instincts and impulsive nature drive her far beyond the shores of Texas to discover the life awaiting her on the other side of childhood.

That life’s journey—through grief and tragedy, creative and romantic risks and turmoil, the nurturing of superstar offspring and of her own special gifts—is the remarkable story she shares with readers here. This is a page-turning chronicle of family love and heartbreak, of loss and perseverance, and of the kind of creativity, audacity, and will it takes for a girl from Galveston to change the world. It’s one brilliant woman’s intimate and revealing story, and a multigenerational family saga that carries within it the story of America—and the wisdom that women pass on to one another, mothers to daughters, across generations.

About The Author

Tina Knowles is an American businesswoman, fashion designer, art collector, and activist. Born Celestine Ann Beyoncé in Galveston, Texas, to a longshoreman father and seamstress mother, she learned dressmaking at an early age. In 1986, she opened Headliners, a groundbreaking hair salon that became a multimillion-dollar phenomenon in Houston. As a stylist, designer, and mother, she helped guide the day-to-day path of Destiny’s Child—the music group comprised of Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams—to global commercial success. With her daughter Beyoncé she cofounded and ran the House of Deréon, a clothing line named for her mother, later adding the Miss Tina line, which revolutionized size inclusivity. In 2024, she helped to create Cécred, Beyoncé’s hair-care line. Her philanthropic portfolio includes the nonprofit performing arts organization WACO Theater Center; The Knowles-Rowland Center for Youth in Houston; and Tina’s Angels, her thriving mentoring program for at-risk youth in South Central Los Angeles. She serves as chairwoman of BeyGOOD, a nonprofit dedicated to establishing economic equity through a wide array of initiatives. Tina Knowles is a grandmother of six and a Matriarch to many.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Cydney on May 02, 2025

In this era of my life, stories of women coming into themselves for the first time in their lives at ages society might deem as too old to get to know yourself are really resonating with me. Matriarch is a story of learning self-love, self-worth, and self-advocacy as a woman who was once a daughter......more

Goodreads review by Darriona on April 29, 2025

4.5 ✨ I feel like Tina Knowles has always been a pretty open book, but I feel like this memoir gave us to opportunity to know her more. I love how the book was organized showcasing her life as a daughter, her life as a mother, and then her life on her own. Reading about her experiences with her fami......more

Goodreads review by Breeee on May 01, 2025

NOW THIS HOW YOU WRITE A MEMOIR!!! Miss Tina ate down with this book. This lady has lived. Nothing was skipped in this book like AT ALLLLL. A lot of these “Memoirs” lately have been skipping a lot and giving us nothing. I have so much respect & admiration for Ms. Tina after reading this. Now do I lov......more

Goodreads review by Arna on April 23, 2025

What a memoir of strength, beauty and femininity. Tina Knowles is the epicentre for all things feminism and this beautiful recount kept me rooting for her time and time again. Even the strongest pillars need rest—sometimes a matriarch must honour herself first to keep holding everyone else up. Tina t......more

Goodreads review by Andre on May 11, 2025

Amazing!......more


Quotes

“A fascinating memoir of Tina Knowles’s journey to become the global figure she is today. We learn how the strength and wisdom of the women who came before her fueled Tina’s passion to achieve and gave her the ability to nurture her own daughters into the incredible women they are today.”—Oprah Winfrey

“Both her great-grandmother and grandmother fought to keep their children from being sold away or otherwise separated in slavery. How remains a mystery. Matriarchs, Knowles writes, ‘are filled with the most enduring and ferocious love.’”The New York Times

“As a fan of the Knowles family music empire, I was not expecting to uncover information I did not already know, but [Tina] Knowles proved wrong. She delves deeper into her own backstory than ever before.”—The Washington Post

“A great story of a singular American life.”—Kirkus Reviews