Strong Female Character : Nero Book Awards Winner

Exploring class, mental health, societal pressures and individual ambition, Strong Female Character is a candid and groundbreaking memoir of neurodiversity, sexism and defying expectations.

The Books Are My Bag Reader's Awards Non-Fiction Winner 2023

Winner of the Nero Non-Fiction Award 2023

'If you've ever been on a night out where you got blackout drunk and have laughed the next day as your friends tell you all the stupid stuff you said, that's what being autistic feels like for me: one long blackout night of drinking, except there's no socially sanctioned excuse for your gaffes and no one is laughing.'

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.

MEDIA 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

Fern Brady's book is alive in your hands. Brave doesn't cover it and I'm not sure what will. Fizzing with intelligence, it will hit you in the heart, lungs and liver. You'll laugh, cry, be still and if you're not autistic - by god you'll learn. If you are autistic you'll be seen, heard, held, rocked and loved here. A set text for all of us in 2023 - DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE

Strong Female Character is a testament to the importance of self-knowledge. Fern Brady is a natural and engaging writer, weaving bleak episodes with moments of pure comedy as she re-appraises crucial moments in her life through the lens of her autism diagnosis. Brutal honesty and a talent for storytelling combine to make an insightful memoir that's not only very funny, but will no doubt provide invaluable moments of recognition for many readers. - RACHAEL HEALY, The Guardian

Witty, dry, and gimlet-eyed, Strong Female Character is a necessary corrective. Brady offers a compelling, messy, highly resonant portrait of what masked Autism feels like - Devon Price, author of Unmasking Autism

This Bathgate girl has more jaw-dropping tales to share than your average comedian-cum-author could hope to harvest in a lifetime. Perhaps more of us ought to grapple with our own mortality if it births something so bold as Strong Female Character. - The List

Strong Female Character will reassure fellow autistic folk that they are not alone - Chortle

Shocking and incredibly moving - and it will make you laugh at subjects that you didn't think you possibly could - Scotland on Sunday

A brutal, funny and heartbreaking memoir. The pace is brisk and her deadpan humour makes the darkest material hilariously funny. - Marianne Power, The Times

Brilliant! - Sarah Atkinson, CEO Social Mobility Foundation, HR Magazine

This very personal account of bullying, stripping, homelessness and stand-up is shocking and incredibly moving - and will make you laugh at subjects that you didn't realise could be funny. - Kirsty McLuckie, i Paper

[Brady] brings unsparing wit to a memoir that calls out the bulls--t in every culture she's experienced. - Helen Brown, The Telegraph

Strong Female Character is a clear-eyed, deeply sane account of an at times tumultuous life; a life shaped by class and gender, but mostly, it's now clear to her, by her autism. - The Herald