Strong Female Character

By: Fern Brady

Narrated by: Fern Brady

BRITISH BOOK OF THE YEAR: AUDIOBOOK WINNER 2024

Fern Brady was told she couldn't be autistic because she's had loads of boyfriends and is good at eye contact. This is a story of how being female can get in the way of being autistic and how being autistic gets in the way of being the 'right kind' of woman.

©2023 Fern Brady (P)2023 Octopus Publishing Group

Critic reviews

Of course it's funny - it's Fern Brady - but this book is also deeply moving and eye-opening (ADAM KAY)

It made me laugh out loud and broke my heart and made me weep...I hope absolutely everyone reads this, and it makes them kinder and more curious about the way we all live (DAISY BUCHANAN)

Glorious. Frank but nuanced, a memoir that doesn't sacrifice voice or self-awareness. And it has brilliant things to say about being autistic and being funny (ELLE MCNICOLL)

Fern is a brilliant, beautiful writer with a unique voice and even more unique story. Astute, honest and very, very funny. (LOU SANDERS)

So funny and brilliant (HOLLY SMALE)

An absolute riot. I'm literally going to read it again once I've finished, and I'm a miserable bastard...it's a belter (FRANKIE BOYLE)

Says what no-one else says

This is a brilliant book and it helped with how I see myself as I am also a late diagnosed autistic (AuDHD inattentive) woman.

Loved every minute

Very engaging and interesting book! I loved the narration and the insight into the mind of someone with autism.

Thank you, Fern!

What a brilliant voice to invite empathy and understanding.
I get now, why I'm so endlessly tired and the confusion that comes with decades of masking.
Thank you, Fern, for your wit and your willingness to share also the parts that are scary to the neurotypicals 🙏

Honest, intelligent and powerful

Couldn't stop listening to Ferns life story. Hope many people listen to it and get a better understanding of how it is to live as an autistic person and as a woman in our society.

Shite life, funny story

I was searching for Fern Brady on YouTube a while back and found an audio piece recorded by a guy who was annoyed that Fern Brady had once told him to get lost in a pub when he approached her expecting that their fleeting acquaintance at least merited some recognition. He was so offended that years later he felt obliged to record a nasty little hit piece on her and upload it for the world to hear. This book goes some way to explaining exactly how this kind of thing keeps happening to Fern.

Far and away my favourite non-fiction of 2023, this book is at turns entertaining and gut-wrenching. Expect some laughs and a few tears along the way. I have had a few Ferns in my life over the years, and I really appreciated the way she opened up on the page so honestly. It helped me to reflect on those past friendships in a new way. I just wish she could have felt as honest with those around her as she has with her readers. The self-destructive masking and the pain it caused (both physical and mental) is all so unnecessary. And all so unavoidable too.

Read by the author in an accent that is half Glasgow, half Edinburgh (thankfully, if it was all Glasgow I might have had to give it a pass) some listeners may have trouble with it, especially since she had a cold while recording it. I'm not being snarky, she actually mentions that. I didn't have any trouble with it, but some might.