Out on 22 October 2026
Synopsis
**THE PHENOMENAL NEW BOOK FROM COMEDIAN AND SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE AUDACITY, KATHERINE RYAN**
'Firstborn Daughter is for anyone who was born into the role of unpaid family manager or simply suffers from hyper independence as a trauma response. It's part social commentary, part survival guide for daughters, and 100% written while I was probably carrying a refrigerator up some stairs alone. Firstborn Daughters, we've got it.'
Katherine Ryan was born fuming, nine months after her parents' wedding, and has been in charge ever since. In this hilarious, whip-smart memoir, she diagnoses herself - and probably you - with 'Firstborn Daughter Syndrome': the widely unrecognized condition that turns women into over-functioning, over-achieving, over-it planners of everyone else's lives. Equal parts stand-up set and group therapy session, Firstborn Daughter runs through motherhood, marriage, fame, beauty, and a very long list of famous women (Beyoncé, Oprah, Hillary Clinton) who never had a choice either.
You'll laugh. You'll recognize your group chat. You'll finally feel diagnosed.
Praise for The Audacity:
'Brilliant!' Aisling Bea
'Witty as hell' Tom Allen
Wildly readable... tremendous' The Times
'Firstborn Daughter is for anyone who was born into the role of unpaid family manager or simply suffers from hyper independence as a trauma response. It's part social commentary, part survival guide for daughters, and 100% written while I was probably carrying a refrigerator up some stairs alone. Firstborn Daughters, we've got it.'
Katherine Ryan was born fuming, nine months after her parents' wedding, and has been in charge ever since. In this hilarious, whip-smart memoir, she diagnoses herself - and probably you - with 'Firstborn Daughter Syndrome': the widely unrecognized condition that turns women into over-functioning, over-achieving, over-it planners of everyone else's lives. Equal parts stand-up set and group therapy session, Firstborn Daughter runs through motherhood, marriage, fame, beauty, and a very long list of famous women (Beyoncé, Oprah, Hillary Clinton) who never had a choice either.
You'll laugh. You'll recognize your group chat. You'll finally feel diagnosed.
Praise for The Audacity:
'Brilliant!' Aisling Bea
'Witty as hell' Tom Allen
Wildly readable... tremendous' The Times
Details
22 October 2026
272 pages
9781806173358
Imprint: Young Picador
