
Firstborn Girls
A Memoir
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Narrated by:
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Robin Miles
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Bernice L. McFadden
From award-winning author and creative writing professor at Tulane University comes an intimate and powerful memoir exploring inherited trauma, family secrets, and the enduring bonds of love between mothers and daughters.
On her second birthday in 1967, Bernice McFadden died in a car crash near Detroit, only to be resuscitated after her mother pulled her from the flaming wreckage. Firstborn Girls traces her remarkable life from that moment up to the publication of her first novel, Sugar.
Growing up in 1980s Brooklyn, Bernice finds solace in books, summer trips to Barbados, and boarding school to escape her alcoholic father. Discovering the works of Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, she finally sees herself and her loved ones reflected in their stories of “messy, beautiful, joyful Black people.”
Interwoven with Bernice's personal journey is her family's history, beginning with her four-times enslaved great-grandmother Louisa Vicey Wilson in 1822 Hancock County, Georgia. Her descendants survived Reconstruction and Jim Crow, joined the Great Migration, and mourned Dr. King’s assassination during the Civil Rights Movement. These women's wisdom, secrets, and fierce love are passed down like Louisa's handmade quilt.
A memoir of many threads, Firstborn Girls is an extraordinarily moving portrait of a life shaped by family, history, and the drive to be something more.
©2025 Bernice L. McFadden (P)2025 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
“A distinguished novelist explores the history that shaped her and the women in her family. . . . A powerful, richly tapestried book about race, history, love, and the healing power of the written word.”—Kirkus
“Novelist McFadden delivers the captivating, multigenerational stories of her family in a poignant memoir.”—Booklist
“In her remarkable memoir, Bernice McFadden revisits the chaos of girlhood and her journeys as a mother, daughter, and writer, all beneath the specter of white supremacy, patriarchy, and domestic violence. Hailing from generations of hard-loving, bold, flawed Black women, McFadden’s recounting of their lives and intimacies is masterful and mesmerizing. Fueled by compassion and anger, resilience and curiosity, McFadden reveals family secrets, strivings, and struggles, against the backdrop of our country’s long legacy of racial injustice. Revelatory and enthralling, Firstborn Girls is an absolute treasure.”—Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
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Best Memoir Ever! Seriously
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First Born Girls
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Oh What A Read
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Wow! Felt like a movie.
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Outstanding
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Great Read!
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I once had the notion that I wanted to be a writer. I think because I loved books so much. I'd day dream about my book and my characters, but I'd never attempted that dream. I did however; write a couple of black history month plays while in the military and produced a show or two on the base. It was so fulfilling. Maybe if I hadn't spent 22 years in the army, I may have set that as a goal to reach.
The part about going to the office to get public assistance hit me like a brick and brought back a memory, I'd long forgotten. I had my first child at 19 and I hated to ask for help primarily because the way they treat you, but I had to. I'd witnessed that type of behavior from the state employees because I'd been to those offices with my mother while growing up. Like Bernice, I only stayed on assistance 6 months and joined the military,
She has educated me with so much history. Every reference she talked about, such as Palm Sunday or the history of Barbados, I booked marked them and googled them to read more about what was stated in the book.
Great job Ms. McFadden!
Her Story
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The tapestry that the author weaved as we journeyed though her life story.
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Life and living
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Loved every minute of this book
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