Strong Female Character

By: Fern Brady

Narrated by: Fern Brady

Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Witty, dry, and gimlet-eyed, this is a necessary corrective in a world where Autistic women are all either written off as quiet and docile, or erased entirely.”—Devon Price, Ph.D., author of Unmasking Autism

Scottish comedian Fern Brady was told she couldn't be autistic because she'd had loads of boyfriends and is good at eye contact. In this frank and surreal memoir, she delivers a sharp and often hilarious portrait of neurodivergence and living unmasked.

Finalist for the Porchlight Business Book Award • A Harper’s Bazaar Best Book of the Year

After reading about autism in her teens, Fern Brady knew instinctively that she had it—autism explained her sensory issues, her meltdowns, her inability to pick up on social cues—and she told her doctor as much. But it took until she was thirty-four for her to get diagnosed.

Strong Female Character is about the years in between, and the unique combination of sexism and ableism that so often prevents autistic women from getting diagnosed until adulthood. Coming from a working-class Scottish Catholic family, Fern wasn’t exactly poised to receive an open-minded acceptance of her neurodivergence. With the piercing clarity and wit that has put her at the top of the British comedy scene, she now reflects on the ways her undiagnosed autism influenced her youth, from the tree that functioned as her childhood best friend to the psychiatric facility where she ended up when neither her parents nor school knew what to do with her.

In a memoir as hilarious as it is heartbreaking, Fern leaves no stone unturned while detailing her futile attempts at employment, her increasingly destructive coping mechanisms, and the meltdowns that left her mind (and apartment) in ruins. Her chaotic, nonlinear journey—from stripping to getting arrested to finding a lifeline in comedy to her breakout appearance on the Taskmaster TV show as her full, unmasked self—is both a remarkable coming-of-age tale and a dark but poignant tribute to life at the intersection of womanhood and neurodiversity.

Strong Female Character 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 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Strong Female Character is a testament to Brady’s quality of said character, her tenacity in the face of a world not yet ready to grapple with all she brings to it."―New York Times

"Brady is very funny. But she responsibly and powerfully intends more than just a sad-but-humorous recounting of her experience.... Though Brady is annoyed that we’re this far into the 21st century and she still has to explain all this, any reader of Strong Female Character will be glad she did."―Washington Post

"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 reappraises 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."―Rachel Healy, The Guardian

So well written and even better preformed

So well written and even better preformed by Fern Brady. Far too many audio books are poor sound quality or the reader is so monotone and dull. Fern couldn't be further from that, she does a fantastic job of reading the story like she is actually telling it to you not reading it. The quality is excellent and the story itself is so insightful, educational and of course she add humor throughout.

You have to listen to this

In chapter six, 25 minutes in, Fern says “getting people to like you is an impossibility I would never master”

This book proves her wrong. An incredibly honest portrayal of a real life, normally hidden behind adult humor or silence, told in Ferns unique and strangely refreshing way.

important read for anyone and everyone

absolutely outstanding story telling with important insights perfectly crafted to make the unknown approachable and understandable. Simultaneously heart warming and heart breaking.

Buy. This.

Listening to Fern is like listening to someone READ MY BRAIN which is in a language I’ve felt no one really understands. I’ve been recommending this to people I know and love whom I trust enough to give a window into my brain. Recently I began recommending it to others I feel would love it or particularly benefit from learning from it…I mean everyone would benefit from this tbh.

Fern for Prez/Prime Minister.

Very personal and informative

Very personal and honest and gave me a lot of insight into some of my own behaviors. Occasionally funny because she is a comedian, it is mostly raw and real and insightful and I highly recommend it for anyone who is or who cares about someone on the spectrum

More rewarding than funny

More funny than you’d think at first. At times I questioned what I’d got myself into. I personally connected with many of her frustrations with society. Her perspective is unique. I learned a lot and laughed a little.

Honest, compelling, reliable!

Fern Brady is simply an extremely talented writer. Her fascinating story is also entirely engrossing. Her accent adds to the beauty of her prose. This will forever be listed as one of the most important and powerful memoirs that I’ve ever encountered. The autism subject matter (ASD) is clear and up to date, and her personal experiences have deeply resonated with me. This book is truly a gift, and also a sort of love letter, to the entire community of late diagnosed autistic women. I haven’t had the experience of really relating in this specific way to a memoir before, and I’m so grateful to her for having kindly written this important book! She made me feel understood and less alone, and less strange. I felt so impressed by her tenacity, and her honesty made me feel a sense of personal connection and even a sense of belonging and confidence. Bonus: She’s also bloody hilarious!!!

Delightful and informative

Fern tells her own story — what it’s like to grow up into adulthood with undiagnosed autism

most relatable tale of autism in women

Fern Brady's story of living with autism in the 90s as a teenager who isn't diagnosed was all too real. I also lived through that and find her story extremely relatable. She's funny AMF familiar.

Brilliant and life changing

Literary, comedic, data informed memoir. Watch Taskmaster and then fall totally in love with this human. For my brain, I needed to slow down the speed of her narration or play sections multiple times to process at Fern speed. She is amazing.