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Strong Female Character: Nero Book Awards Winner Paperback – Jan. 11 2024
鶹
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NERO BOOK AWARDS WINNER 2023
WINNER, NON FICTION BOOK 2023, BOOKS ARE MY BAG AWARDS
SHORTLIST, BOOKSHOP.ORG INDIE CHAMPIONS
SHORTLIST, AMAZON NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
SHORTLIST, GOODREADS CHOICE BOOK OF THE YEAR
Audible Books of the Year 2023
The Times Books of the Year 2023
Apple Best Audiobooks of 2023
BOOKSHOP.ORG Book of the Month January 2024
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'I tore through this hilarious, smart, sad, revealing book' - Bob Odenkirk
'Funny, sharp and has incredible clarity' - Jon Ronson
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
'Strong Female Character is a testament to the importance of self-knowledge.' - Rachael Healy, The Guardian
A summary of my book:
1. I'm diagnosed with autism 20 years after telling a doctor I had it.
2. My terrible Catholic childhood: I hate my parents etc.
3. My friendship with an elderly man who runs the corner shop and is definitely not trying to groom me. I get groomed.
4. Homelessness.
5. Stripping
6. More stripping but with more nervous breakdowns.
7. I hate everyone at uni and live with a psycho etc.
8. REDACTED as too spicy.
9. After everyone tells me I don't look autistic, I try to cure my autism and get addicted to Xanax.
10. REDACTED as too embarrassing.
'Fern's book, like everything she does, is awesome. Incredibly funny, and so unapologetically frank that I feel genuinely sorry for her lawyers.' - PHIL WANG
'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
'A set text for all of us in 2023' - DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE
'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
'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
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBrazen
- Publication dateJan. 11 2024
- Dimensions19.7 x 2.6 x 12.6 cm
- ISBN-101914240472
- ISBN-13978-1914240478

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Product details
- Publisher : Brazen
- Publication date : Jan. 11 2024
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 1914240472
- ISBN-13 : 978-1914240478
- Item weight : 1.05 kg
- Dimensions : 19.7 x 2.6 x 12.6 cm
- 鶹 Rank: #198,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #22 in Children's Autism Spectrum
- #44 in Improvisation in Theatre
- #230 in Feminist Criticism
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

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Customer reviews
Top reviews from Canada
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- Reviewed in Canada on February 15, 2025Verified PurchaseLove her, love the book. Refreshingly honest.
- Reviewed in Canada on September 23, 2024Verified PurchaseBeautiful story. Really enjoyed this read.
- Reviewed in Canada on March 8, 2024Verified PurchaseThis book was honest and informative. Fern’s voice was prominent and witty. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.
- Reviewed in Canada on December 20, 2024Verified PurchaseEnjoyed learning about autism through this autobiography, but she can be pretty brutal. Very funny, very intelligent, deeply horrifying -- just like her comedy.
Top reviews from other countries
- LiseyPReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 17, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and told with humour and honesty
Verified PurchaseThank you to the author and publisher Octopus Books for access to this as an ebook as part of a blog tour with Random Things Tours. I bought the audiobook too as I wanted to keep reading while walking the dog and doing the housework - it’s that good. This is an honest and voluntary review.
Scottish stand-up Fern Brady’s raw and compelling autobiography about her experiences as an autistic woman.
Autism is severely under diagnosed in women. I’ve heard this said many, many times, but it’s not until reading this book that I really understood what it meant. Under diagnosis means people being misunderstood and blamed for behaviour that they’re given no support to develop coping strategies for. It means individuals feeling isolated and scared about feelings they cannot control or do not understand. Like permanently living in a country where you do not understand the customs and no one explains them to you.
I’m a parent to an autistic teenage boy who, thanks to gender in all likelihood, was diagnosed at a relatively young age. But, it came as a shock to us because he makes eye eye contact and is a very good hugger, those assumptions and stereotypes getting in the way again. While our family’s experience isn’t the same as the author’s, the insight into her internal thought processes are really powerful and helpful on understanding how I can better talk to my son about things that as a neurotypical person I might take for granted.
The book is a great blend of facts, backed up by reference points, and how these relate to her real life experiences. My only caution is that for people with no existing experience or knowledge of an autistic spectrum diagnosis, they may make just as many incorrect assumptions about a typical autistic person based on this book as they would based on other media depictions. But, for someone just diagnosed or who has self-diagnosed, or for friends and family members who want a greater insight into the perspective of an autistic person, this is a great read.
- CandiceReviewed in Australia on May 10, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Just read it!
Verified PurchaseReading Fern Brady’s book is a must. Her insights and well thought out reflections of life as a neurodivergent are eye opening. I thoroughly enjoyed her humour throughout. She will have you laughing and crying while reading this.
- CherylReviewed in France on February 21, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Fern Brady is a brave voice
Verified PurchaseI fell in love with Fern Brady (as many others did) during her time on Taskmaster. She was adorably awkward and funny and just a breath of fresh air without any pretense whatsoever. Her unique approach to each task was so fun to watch because it would almost always be surprising but never boring. I speak for many when I say thank you to Fern for having the courage to ‘out’ herself as autistic. While she has said in multiple interviews and even on a Reddit AMA that she could see how blatantly her autism was showing, it was only blatant to her, as to the rest of us, she was just amazing. My only disappointment whatsoever with this book was the length. I wanted more stories about other aspects of her life and career. But that’s a very, very tiny complaint. Bravo , Fern! I look forward to hearing more from you in the future!