Oldest Daughters: What to know if you are one or have ever been bossed around by one

Birth order is a fact; it does not have to be a fate.

Patricia Schudy, a former nationally syndicated youth-advice columnist, effectively demonstrates that reality in this 2017 non-fiction book about family and sibling relationships.

The author delves into the rarely recognized impact of the first-born daughter’s childhood position on her adult life, siblings and spouse. She connects readers emotionally through stories gleaned from in-depth interviews with more than 100 family members of diverse ethnicities. She repeatedly heard as she was interviewing, "I want to know I am not the only one out there feeling this way."

Their stories, together with responses to an online survey of several hundred random participants and the author’s own experiences as an oldest child and first-born daughter, provide fresh information for family relationshps and feminist thought.

At the end of each of the ten chapters, contributing psychologist Kristin Russell offers self-help suggestions for personal growth and transforming family relationships. Dr. Russell, whose private practice focuses on women's issues, is the author's oldest daughter.

The cover designer, Chicago artist Amy Marie Greenberg intended the cover illustration “to express the joy and the burdens of being an oldest daughter—willingly tethered to her family and forging her own path.”