Antonia Bernardin

The 9th book I read this year was A Strong Female Character by Fern Brady.

I received this book as part of a collaboration with Tandem Collective on my podcast: The Lazy Book Lovers Podcast.

A brief summary

Fern Brady is a Scottish Comedian, who is autistic, this book starts around the time Fern was diagnosed and then hops back in time to Fern as a child.

From there the book follows something like themes from Fern’s life, moving from her teenage years and her time in a mental institution, to her time at university, her time as a stripper, through to when she entered the comedy circuit. As she walks us through her life, the story flashes backwards and forwards, to stories from her childhood that are similar to the part of her adulthood we are seeing.

The book is sprinkled with stats, such as the rates at which neuro-divergent people experience domestic abuse or the correlation of how many neuro-divergent people are also part of the LGBTQIA community (as Fern herself is). Loads of the statements in the book are supported by stats or research, of which there is very little based on women, which Fern also talks about in the book.

What did I think?

This book had an excellent pace, although short it covers a lot and at a speed I personally enjoy. The sense of humour in this is very dry/ tongue in cheek/ sarcastic, which is also right up my street. It deals with some pretty heavy topics, such as self harm and suicide (so please check the trigger warnings) but with the same kind of irreverent humour, which is also right up my street but might not be for some people. Fern’s life is very interesting and it does make you wonder at times, if she had been diagnosed at a younger age, how much different the path she followed would have been. It’s a brutally honest book, sharing the shame and the joys of being autistic, particularly focuses on the perspective of moving through a neurotypical world as an undiagnosed autistic person. With all the stats and her slightly wild life story, this is a really interesting book.

Check out the podcast episode on the book here:

Episode 107: Fern Brady's 'Strong Female Character' deep dive – Lazy Book Lovers

This episode, in collaboration with Tandem Collective and Octopus Books, is an depth discussion about Fern Brady's book: 'Strong Female Character'. Fern is a Scottish comedian and this book covers stories from her life pre and post autism diagnoses. We discuss what the book is about, how we relate to the stories she tells and what we think about the various stats and facts Fern gives throughout the book.Want to win a copy of the paperback for yourself? Visit our Tiktok or Instagram!Important links for the book:Tandem Collective Readalong Page (includes Content Warnings)Paperback Purchase LinkAudiobook Purchase LinkeBook Purchase LinkOur info: Follow our reads on Storygraph or the Lazy Book Lovers shop front on Bookshop.orgJingle: One Fine Day by Podcast.Co

Buy Fern’s book for yourself

Tandem Collective Readalong Page (includes Content Warnings)

Paperback Purchase Link

Audiobook Purchase Link

eBook Purchase Link