This book is a must-read educational masterclass in how autism may present in females. Written with Fern Brady’s trademark stark honesty and unique sense of humour. Every page contains details and anecdotes that are both heart-breaking and enlightening. Her late diagnosis by “professionals” despite her insistence from a young age that she had autism is a travesty. Her meltdowns, coping mechanisms and her attempts to comply with “socially acceptable” behaviour are plainly told and will hopefully help to educate and reform society’s approach to autism particularly for females who have been overlooked and under-researched thus far. Incredible.

A compelling read, dealing with the comedian Fern Brady's life as a girl and woman with autism and the fact that her condition was only recognised when she was in her thirties. Fern has a very distinctive voice, and her anger and frustration with the authorities and institutions, as well as some family members, who misunderstood her as a young person, is powerfully expressed. We also learn how the worlds of comedy and entertainment are not set up to deal with those who do not fit their preconceived templates. This book will surely help many people who have questions about the way their own minds and those of loved ones work, and what can be done to help everyone function to the best of their abilities.

I want to thank Netgalley, the author Fern Brady, and Octopus Books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was incredibly incredibly excited to pick this one up and it did not let me down. Brady’s sharp and snappy writing was exactly what I needed after a Covid-induced reading slump. She writes openly and honestly and with real humour about her life.

There were so many lessons to learn from Brady’s life story. The main one being the multiple issues caused by misdiagnosis of autism in women as mental illness. Brady writes how she was seen as evil, as a problem child by her family. The real misunderstanding in the way she functions or her neurodivergent needs made life incredibly difficult for her, especially pre-diagnosis. Her time in an inpatient mental health hospital was particularly poignant, as she highlights how even healthcare professionals get things wrong in an incredibly damaging way.

It is clear that Brady’s objective in writing this book is to contribute to a deeper understanding of autism in society, especially in women. Our comprehension of autism is so narrowly focused on traits that are most prevalent in male autistic children that so many others miss out on support for decades of their lives. Brady details several instances throughout her life where allistics have made things harder for autistics without even realising. These anecdotes prove useful lessons in actively striving toward a more understanding and welcoming world.

Diagnosis of autism in females is such a hot topic at the moment and I think this book has been published at the perfect time. Some may read this and see themselves in Brady, feeling validated for the first time in their lives, and understanding the potential reason for their struggles. It may encourage them to seek diagnosis and support provisions. This real world impact absolutely cannot be understated. Brady also cites many sources throughout that provide the reader with further watching or reading to expand their knowledge.

The book covers some tough topics, but it handles them all with sensitivity. Brady’s experience with domestic abuse was desperately sad to read but it is important to highlight that many autistic women do fall victim to abusive men so that we as a society can strive to do more to prevent this. She gives autonomy to autistic women and fights against the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope which is so so essential.

This book educates and it entertains. I flew through it and I whole-heartedly recommend to anyone looking to pick up a memoir that will let them experience the full range of emotions.

An interesting account of a woman being diagnosed as autistic as an adult. It provides an honest picture of the ways being unaware you are autistic can rupture your life growing up and leads to a sense of displacement -within yourself, society, and your family. Will possibly be good for people who suspect they are autistic or have just received a diagnosis, as well as their friends and family.

I'm going to recommend this to so many people. I learnt a lot reading Strong Female Character, which says something in itself about our culture's treatment of neurodivergence and especially women and girls with neurodivergence. But it's also hilarious, full of dark humour, alternated with or about heartbreaking stories. It's not often that a book as entertaining as this is so educational - again, this reflects badly on our culture. If only people accepted and respected differences in others, instead of being the (mostly) ignorant idiots we largely are, what a different life so many people could have. Really humbling.

Fern Brady makes a very casual comment towards the end of this memoir about a bidding war between publishers, and you can completely understand why. This is a real gem of a book, and I will be recommending it to anyone and everyone in the coming months.

It is not an easy read, and I found it really traumatic in places. I also learnt an awful lot. Her story made me angry too - that society is just not geared up to celebrate, encourage or even tolerate autistic people. Fern seems to have found herself in some really challenging and terrifying situations because systems were not established to protect people who are on the spectrum.

This is a really brave, honest account of her experience. It’s educational too - I found myself reading around the subject, and wanting to learn more. Regardless of whether you have any interactions with autistic people in your life, I would urge you to read this book. It’s a really powerful, important tale and lessons should be learned from it.

Fantastic book! Recommended to everyone I’ve spoken to. Five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Only criticism was I wish it was downloadable to kindle as then it is easier to read.

I have been after this for some time, and it doesn't disappoint. Fern really nails home how difficult it is for an autistic woman to make it through the world today. I am married to an autistic woman who still finds it difficult to cope even though she has been successful in her work life. Recommended

Absolutely love Fern Brady as a stand up so I was excited about getting to read this. It took me aback how fantastic this was, both as a memoir and in specifically representing Fern's relationship with autism. It's deeply honest, painful at times and funny at others, and genuinely made me reflect. It has so much to say across autism in women, health services, homelessness, sex work, bisexuality, the tv and comedy industries, and tons more. Really impressive.

Brady gives us her open and unfiltered account of what life is like inside her head as a woman with autism.

Her writing is concise and her stories will have you rolling in the aisles one minute and blubbing into a tissue the next.

I have several friends who are autistic and I've often tried to understand what goes on inside their heads. With Brady's help, I think I have a slightly better understanding of autism.

Strong Female Character is definitely one of the best memoirs I've read this year and I'm definitely going to be giving Brady's stand-up a watch, YouTube here I come!

Entertaining, emotional and highly enjoyable.

Strong Female Character is a brilliant memoir that is really enjoyable to read. Fern has a strong voice that comes through very clearly in this book; it is full of her personality. I only wish I'd listened to the audiobook instead of reading it in print. I think it helped having seen some of Fern's comedy appearances before because I could very easily imagine her telling these stories, but I think listening would be even better.

Strong Female Character doesn't pretend to be a self-help or educational book, but I still took a lot away from it. Through Fern's anecdotes and sharing her experiences, both those I could and couldn't personally relate to, I found a lot of food for thought.

A very readable, honest memoir. Highly recommended for fans of Fern's comedy, but also anyone interested in a perspective that may be different to their own.

This was absolutely fantastic. We have a whole shelf built off it at the moment as a result, and two more of my colleagues have read it from having heard me talk about it.

I really enjoyed reading and learning about Fern Beady‘s life and her (very long) undiagnosed autism. A very strong and powerful book, perfect for anyone who wants to learn a thing or two about life on the spectrum.

The only thing which irritated me a bit, were the frequent and a little confusing jumps between past and present stories. It often took we a while to understand there was a jump in time.

Oh my goodness all I can really say is thank you for writing this book.
As a late diagnosed autistic woman, I felt such a sense of connection with so many of Fern's experiences. It honestly was just so beautifully written and touching. An absolute pleasure to read.
Perfect for anyone who has spent far too many years wondering is everyone thinking like this? Am I normal? Just why? I just wish I had read this as a teenager, I think I might have felt less alone.

I loved how Brady really tries to come across as completely real and genuine here, not hiding the embarrassing or upsetting things that have happened. This book manages to be harrowing and yet darkly funny, often in the same paragraph. I think we need as many memoirs from autistic women as possible, as the experience is so varied. I remember reading another autistic woman's memoir years ago (well before I realised I had any autistic traits) and didn't see myself in her experiences at all.

Brady has had very different experiences to me, some positive, some negative. However, there are many parallels to our lives and she puts into words experiences that I wouldn't have even attempted to explain to someone. While I found this very powerful, it was also confronting in an uncomfortable way. It's possibly something to bear in mind if you're autistic and thinking about reading this.

I've seen some complaints of 'fatphobia' in here, and I wonder if it's just a reaction to Fern's autistic trait (which I share) of just calling a spade a spade. We all grew up in the same early 00's size 0 hellscape and I think Fern is just more honest about her genuine thoughts and feelings than other people are, having also grown up in that hellscape.

Anyway, it's good. You should read it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC of 'Strong Female Character' by Fern Brady.

I love Fern Brady, I truly do. She is a rising star in the comedy world and her stint on Taskmaster was enjoyable to say the least. This memoir - 'Strong Female Character' - goes perfectly alongside all of this. Brady's writing style makes you laugh at certain stories and you truly feel like you are just listening to her one on one. Brady talks about her life, her family, her autism diagnosis, her friends, her mental health and overall just her story and although it's hard to rate a memoir due to how personal they are - I did enjoy reading this one.

Absolutely incredible! Best memoir I have ever read! So raw and honest. I would recommend this book to absolutely everyone!

My first mistake here was assuming that a memoir by a comedian would be funny, whereas really this is more of a horror story about trying to navigate an unsympathetic, sectarian and uncongenially chaotic upbringing as an undiagnosed autistic. I don't know; maybe to the neurotypical the sheer outlandishness of some of it might be funny in a shocking sort of way, whereas, while I've certainly not had it anything like as bad*, to me it was mostly far too recognisable as worst case extrapolations of familiar itches. Sometimes even ones I've made it through 45 years without quite recognising; yes, obviously people making unnecessary noise in public places are monsters, some textures can ruin your whole day, and the one thing worse than a meeting is a meeting that denies it's a meeting - but how had I not clicked that being less into foreign holidays than much of my demographic is also classic aspie?

Other bits of her story are less familiar from my own experience. Stripping, for instance. While you wouldn't go so far as to say she speaks fondly of it overall, certainly the first-hand account here is a corrective to some of the lazier discourse on the topic. After all, it's a job where the transactional nature of everything is much less confusingly concealed than in many workplaces, and without fluorescent lights, so in some ways quite autism-friendly**. And even aside from autism considerations, she points out that she's never had another workplace where calling out sexual harassment was so easy, and so swiftly dealt with ("by a big Latvian bouncer on steroids"). More generally, I loved her exasperation with double standards regarding sex, something which manifests in different but equally annoying forms during her working class Catholic upbringing, and then amidst the posh girls at Edinburgh University. Clearly it's not all for the best - even post-diagnosis, her meltdowns sound terrifying - and she's understandably sceptical of the notion of autistic superpowers. But reading this, I realised how much her baffled hatred of ubiquitous cant is what I like about her as a performer, and why I find her so funny. Just, you know, not necessarily here.

*One detail where I did disagree with Brady was that she says autism is binary, that you either are or not rather than it being a matter of degrees - but then goes on to talk about given autistics having higher or lower support needs, which feels like a distinction without a difference.
**The job she really singles out for praise is Taskmaster, where unlike panel shows, you actually get invited on to be yourself, and they're not just looking for the thin, pretty girls. And of course, this might also be part of why I can't be arsed with the panel show formula, or other competition shows with their nebulous expectations, but got hooked on Taskmaster as soon as I saw it. Little Alex Horne provides one of the blurbs here: "This book has the potential to truly change the way people think about people." He's not wrong, but I still feel it needs a punchline, given the man created a TV show where part of the premise is encouraging everyone involved not to treat him like people.

(Netgalley ARC - though given I share Brady's distaste for obfuscatory language, I should really qualify that 'A'; the book came out in February but I only got approved for this in May)

This book was phenomenal. One of the best memoirs I’ve ever read, and I’ve read many! I found her experiences living as an autistic woman, in a world that is so often not built for us, relatable and insightful. It was raw, harrowing, and inspiring all at once. This is a book I’ll never forget. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for a chance to read and review this book.

Wow! This honest, raw & captivating autobiography by Fern Brady is a must have read. She has spent her life wondering What is Wrong, why is she different etc & been "left" to get on with things. It's quite unbelievable how so many signs were missed. Her life has been eventful, and I'm glad she is now finding her way to cope in her own determined way. A genuine read that I believe everyone should read, to open our eyes & mind to taking step towards understanding the barriers autistic people face