Worrying the line : black women writers, lineage, and literary tradition / Cheryl A. Wall.

Introduction
Reconstructing lineage, revising tradition in Song of Solomon and Zami
On the line to Dahomey : charting Generations
Recollections of kin : Beloved and The black book
Trouble in mind : blues and history in Corregidora
Writing beyond the blues : The color purple
Extending the line : from Sula to Mama day
Bare bones and silken threads : lineage and literary tradition in Praisesong for the widow
In search of our mothers' gardens and our fathers' (real) estate : Alice Walker, essayist
Epilogue : moving on down the line ...