Matriarch: A Memoir

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussions of racism, discrimination, illness, death, and domestic violence.

Tina Knowles is the author of Matriarch. She is a fashion designer, entrepreneur, stylist, author, and the mother of Beyoncé and Solange Knowles. In her memoir, Knowles traces her life experiences from her childhood in Galveston, Texas, through the present day. She uses the first person point of view and adopts a candid and vulnerable tone. Her personal experiences illustrate various aspects of motherhood, family, adversity, and identity.

Knowles is a spirited individual whose upbringing in the American South deeply shaped her understanding of herself. Her parents were Lumis and Agnes Derouen Buyince, and she was the youngest of seven. Two of her siblings had a different father and were much older than Knowles; however, she grew up with her eldest siblings’ children, who felt more like her brothers and sisters than her nephews and nieces. These relationships immersed Knowles in a rich family life. At the same time, Knowles’s childhood in Galveston often made her feel stifled. As she came of age, she sought new ways to