First Born Daughter: Having It All and Doing It Anyway

**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

Katherine Ryan is an award-winning comedian, writer, presenter and actor. She can be seen on Comedy Central's Out Of Order, Amazon Prime's Backstage with Katherine Ryan, BBC Two's All That Glitters, and Netflix's The Duchess to name a few, as well as her smash hit standup specials In Trouble, Glitter Room, Missus and most recently First Born Daughter. A stalwart on all major UK panel shows, Katherine has also been a guest judge on The Masked Singer and Canada's Got Talent and has hosted multiple podcasts including Telling Everybody Everything, which frequently tops the charts; What's My Age Again?; and Write Me Dirty, which launched in 2025 and debuted straight in the top 10. Katherine's unique stand-up shows sell out across the world. Her most recent, Battleaxe, saw nights at The London Palladium and sold out shows across UK, Ireland, Europe and Canada. Her debut book The Audacity (Blink) went straight into the Sunday Times Bestseller list, receiving critical acclaim.