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Strong Female Character
Strong Female Character | Fern Brady
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. 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.
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arlenefinnigan
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Next up

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nonbinaryandbitter
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Pickpick

This was an incredible book. Fern details at length her personal experience with late diagnosed autism and her narration is incredible. I barely put it down.

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quietlycuriouskate
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Mehso-so

I'm not familiar with FB's stand-up (and haven't a clue what Taskmaster is). This was yet another of my autism memoirs. Maybe I didn't get the joke but this struck me as unrelentingly bleak, and frequently alarming. It is important to share the experience of non-posh ND women, and kudos to her for being so open on the subject of meltdowns. Wish I could say I loved it but, ironically, it left me feeling overwhelmed (and not in a good way). 😩

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charl08
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In one workplace, the boss walked around at 5pm every day smiling and telling everyone, ‘Please, go home! Get your dinner! Relax!‘ Obediently, I‘d get up and leave, wondering why no one was listening to him and had their heads in their hands as they continued to look at emails.

‘You‘re not supposed to actually get up and go home,‘ my colleague whispered to me one evening after he‘d left. ‘He just likes saying that ‘cause it makes him look good.‘

51 likes1 stack add
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youneverarrived
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Pickpick

Fern Brady is diagnosed with autism as an adult & this memoir details her childhood & young adult years as someone with autism but undiagnosed - she was treated by her parents, school & people in authority as someone who was just badly behaved. Although she related to a lot of the characteristics & said to health professionals she thought she was autistic it was ignored. I loved the insight, the humour & the little bits of research & statistics.

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jamield1911
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Pickpick

Memoir of the year. Hands down.

I had no idea who Fern Brady was, but I fell in love with her honesty & bravery during this. I've never read a book where I laughed, cringed, & teared up in equal measures. It was devastating to see the treatment she received as a child & young adult without her autism diagnosis. I'm so pleased she fought for her diagnosis & has become a badass role model for those on the spectrum. 11/10 ⭐️

In my top 3 of 2023. 👏

19 likes1 stack add
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Oryx
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Pickpick

Superb. I can't recommend this enough. I learned so much from it.

squirrelbrain Great! Glad it was good - stacking now. 8mo
TrishB Will have to read very soon now! 8mo
Caroline2 Oh good! I‘ve have this on my kindle, I‘ll move it up the pile. 😉 8mo
57 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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Oryx
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My book haul today (plus Julia and the Shark and a picture book for my nieces). @trishb @squirrelbrain

TrishB Lovely choices ♥️ 8mo
squirrelbrain ❤️❤️❤️ 8mo
Bookwomble Fern Brady was amazing on Taskmaster ❤️ 8mo
51 likes3 comments
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BeeMagical
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Pickpick

Book 140📚 3.7⭐️

A completely raw look at what is like to be an autistic woman growing up undiagnosed.

Fern has been through a lot over the years and has channeled that into her flourishing comedy career.

While I couldn‘t relate to some of her stories, it showed just how different individuals on the spectrum can be.

Very powerful🖤

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BeeMagical
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Yes, Fern… YES.

I felt this so much.

Last month I was diagnosed with Autism, and a few other Neurospicy labels… It‘s been a ride learning about myself again and reading others journey through their diagnosis has been a revelation.

Time to not feel so “alone”❤️‍🔥

fredthemoose I love the term “neurospicy”! Glad you are feeling seen through the book! 10mo
Yuki_Onna 👏🤗 Sending love, Bunny! You're the best! 10mo
BeeMagical @fredthemoose thank you! Fern doesn‘t hold back and I love it. 10mo
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BeeMagical @Yuki_Onna Thank you Bunny!!!❤️🥰 appreciate you so much! 10mo
Yuki_Onna Same to you, Bee!🥰 10mo
Yuki_Onna And while I'm not all that familiar with most Neurospicy conditions (apart from ADHS, which is prevalent in my family), having had to deal with - as it now turns out several - mental health issues, I can relate to that quote as well. You're not alone, Bee!💗 10mo
LiteraryinLawrence Thanks for sharing this! 💗💗 10mo
BeeMagical @Yuki_Onna Bunny, thank you💕💕 10mo
28 likes1 stack add8 comments
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Cazxxx
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Pickpick

Fern Brady is Scottish comedian and her humour really comes across in this memoir. As a woman with autism she gives us all the awful, sad and truly maddening ways she was treated while growing up, all with a very witty and dry sense of humour. She doesn‘t hold anything back and really makes us feel for her while at the same time wanting to hang out with her. I loved this memoir and I learned a lot from it
4 ⭐️

TrishB Just got this week 👍🏻 12mo
Cazxxx @TrishB It‘s a good one. Hope you enjoy 😊 12mo
Bookwomble She was fantastic on Taskmaster 😊 12mo
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Cazxxx @Bookwomble What‘s that? 12mo
Bookwomble @Cazxxx Sorry, I'm being Anglocentric and assuming everybody watches the same TV. Taskmaster is a celebrity gameshow in which five comedians do silly tasks over several weeks in order to win a fake gold bust of the Taskmaster, comedian Greg Davis. It's hilarious, and Fern was both funny and endearing on it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taskmaster_(TV_series) 12mo
Cazxxx @Bookwomble I don‘t have a tv so I‘m often lost when people are talking about shows 😂 I didn‘t even know who Fern was before starting the book. That show sounds like fun and Greg is a funny guy! 12mo
39 likes5 stack adds6 comments