Oprah Winfrey selects “Matriarch” by Tina Knowles, a memoir about motherhood and resilience, as latest book club pick

Oprah Winfrey has selected “Matriarch,” a memoir by Tina Knowles, as her latest book club pick. The personal memoir details Knowles’ life journey from growing up in segregated Texas to raising music superstars Beyoncé and Solange.

During an appearance on “CBS Mornings,” Winfrey praised the memoir for its intimate yet universal appeal.

“What you did is what I think is so hard to do when you’re writing a memoir, and that is to tell your story intimately, personally, but also make it universal,” Winfrey told Knowles. “I believe everybody who has a mother, and everybody who is a mother is going to love this story.”

The book contains revelations that surprised even Winfrey, including Knowles’ previously undisclosed battle with cancer.

Knowles, nicknamed “bad ass Tenie B” as a child for her outspoken nature, expressed both excitement and nervousness about sharing her story.

“It’s a wonderful day … but I still have a little anxiety, because you’re just putting it out into the world,” she said. 

The memoir began as a much larger project. 

“I started off with 1,000 pages,” Knowles said, laughing that her publisher insisted on cuts, noting that “nobody’s gonna read a book that’s 1,000 pages.”

“I tried really hard to tell the stories without telling other people’s stories. That is really hard,” Knowles said.

Knowles said she hopes people will be inspired by some of the stories she has overcome.

“I also hope that people will do their family trees and get into their legacy and their ancestors,” she said.

She also said she has a desire to leave a legacy for her families future generations. 

“I didn’t know my grandparents, so it’s one of the reasons why I want to do this, is to leave that for my grandchildren, that I want, my great grandchildren, that I might not meet, and they’ll have a story in my words, and not someone else interpreting a story.”

“The best, important job” 

The memoir also chronicles Knowles’ decades-long marriage to Mathew Knowles, the father of Beyoncé and Solange. She revealed that her children weren’t fully aware of the couple’s on-again, off-again relationship until they were older.

“There was a time that I separated, and they were devastated because they were very young, and they never knew why,” Knowles explained. “It’s a difficult thing until they’re older, because you don’t want to put that on a kid.”

Winfrey pointed out how Knowles sent both daughters to therapy at a young age to help them appreciate each other’s talents — a progressive parenting choice at the time.

“She knew early on that the girls’ relationship with each other needed to be balanced and talked about in a way that she didn’t feel capable of doing completely herself,” Winfrey said.

The book also reveals personal details about Knowles’ childhood, including experiences with racism and the fact that her maiden name was Beyoncé, which later became her famous daughter’s first name.

Knowles also shares how she named the group Destiny’s Child.

“I put their picture in my NIV study Bible, and one day I opened it, and it said ‘Destiny.’ And I was like, that’s the name. And my ex-husband added ‘child’ to it because it was already a group by that name.”

When reflecting on motherhood, Knowles called it the “best, important job of your life,” explaining that despite her rebellious youth, “With my kids, I said I got to control myself. I have to be deliberate and intentional … I just didn’t want to screw that up, because I screw some stuff up.”

“Matriarch” is available now, and Knowles will be embarking on a book tour to promote it. You can hear more on “The Oprah Podcast,” available on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.