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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

Publisher Review

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 *