What is the true effect of being an only child? Is it a curse or a blessing, a joy or a challenge? Beginning with a researched account of what makes an only child, from isolation and bullying to self-confidence and resourcefulness, John Killick here traces the development of individuals who at one point in their life, whether temporarily or permanently, have experienced being an only child. Focusing on personal life as well as roles and relationships in the wider world, Killick expresses his own experience of being an Only through narrative as well as memories and dreams. Onlyness is a unique and stimulating exploration of a predicament that faces a growing number of people in the UK, in a time where there are now more one-child families than not.