Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Revising The Legacy of Kinlessness Through Elders and Ancestors -- The Elder as Culture Bearer -- The Ancestor as a Beneficial Presence -- The Malevolent Ancestor -- The Child -- Conclusion -- Part I: Preface: The Elder as Culture Bearer -- Chapter 1 Othermothers as Elders and Culture Bearers in Daughters of the Dust and The Salt Eaters -- Part II: Preface: The Dead Are Not Dead: The Ancestral Presence -- Chapter 2 Ancestral Prodding in Praisesong for the Widow -- Chapter 3 Ancestral Disturbances in Stigmata -- Chapter 4 Beloved: A Ghost Story with an Ogbanje Twist -- Part III: Preface: The Child and Ancestor Bond -- Chapter 5 The Child Figure as a Means to Ancestral Knowledge in Daughters of the Dust and A Sunday in June -- Conclusion: Looking Backward and Forward: The Ancestral Presence in Speculative Fiction -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.