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  • Strong Female Character

  • By: Fern Brady
  • Narrated by: Fern Brady
  • Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (2,703 ratings)

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Strong Female Character

By: Fern Brady
Narrated by: Fern Brady
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Summary

BRITISH BOOK OF THE YEAR: AUDIOBOOK WINNER 2024

Fern Brady was told she couldn't be autistic because she's had loads of boyfriends and is good at eye contact. This 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 Octopus Publishing Group
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Critic reviews

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)

What listeners say about Strong Female Character

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Incredible

This is an exceptional book, powerfully honest and sharply written. The common failure to diagnose autism in girls has left so many women confused and ashamed because they don't conform to societal norms and expectations. This book should become required reading in schools. I have seen the pain that someone who has had a meltdown suffers, the guilt and shame. All because we have a medical system almost entirely geared around men.
I enjoyed this book immensely, and cannot recommend it highly enough. Warmly funny, yet also darkly comic and incredibly personal.

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A perfect mix of personal and informative

I am so glad I listened to this in the audio format. Fern reading it made it sound so raw and real. It made it very easy for me to sympathise with her. Not only was Fern brutally honest about her personal experiences but she also shared a lot of facts about autistic women and non-binary folk. I hope more awareness will be spread around autism and neurotypical people will understand it a bit better.

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Amazing!

Captivating and interesting. Brilliantly written by Fern in a way that helps bring awareness and understanding to autism especially in women.

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Insightful and character building

It is refreshing to hear the honest story of someone with such a life. Having a perspective on autism and it’s impacts is really helpful, also made me think I should go get diagnosed, she communicates so clearly the way it impacts her view and experience of the world. Her window into her experience of men is winsome and insightful, gives lots to mull on.
It’s a character building and insightful listen while also being interesting.

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Incredible

It’s hard to describe how amazing this book is. Intelligently written, honest and informative. And at the same time funny, tragic, inspiring and delivered beautifully in audio format. Thank you Fern

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A must read

Such an incredible book! I feel educated on how to better understand neurodivergence in women. Also an incredible life story very well written - thank you Fern!

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Very important, fascinating book.

Bought on Pre-order I wasn't expecting this, but it really opened my eyes. Fern Brady is autistic, something I never knew despite watching a lot of her stuff. This isn't funny, except being often incidentally funny, but instead gives a powerful view into the life of an autistic person. I'm very glad to have read it and think it's definitely changed my worldview on several areas. I'm not autistic, and am removed even from being autism-adjacent, but it's opened my eyes to perhaps just how lucky I am, and left me much more able to see some of the work I knew next to nothing about. Please read this book.

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Engaging and brilliantly written

So engaging and brilliantly written that i didn't realise how dark and bleak parts were until i thought about them later, as i got caught up in it at the time. Like on paper it sounds rougb going but it hooks you in with the way it's told and you end up seeing it from her point of view and agreeing how weird non-autistic people are a lot.

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Compelling -

Learnt so much - completely absorbing. Listened to it at every opportunity - brilliant and powerful! Thanks Fern Brady

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UK's Best Comedian Makes You Love Her Even More

One of the advantages of still being working from home (shhh, don't tell anybody) is to listen to audio books like Fern Brady's 'Strong Female Character'. All the superlatives about this book are true - funny, informative, open and very moving. (Possibly) the UK's best comedian gives you a one on one performance of her life about her life. It certainly shows how the heart of life's funniest moments is found in the dark truths of the human condition. (Hate that phrase).

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