An Honest, Hilarious, and Unflinchingly Real Memoir About Autism, Womanhood, and Survival
Fern Brady’s Strong Female Character is one of those rare memoirs that hits hard and still makes you laugh out loud. With her trademark blunt humor and razor-sharp insight, the Scottish comedian and writer opens a window into her life as an undiagnosed autistic woman navigating poverty, trauma, stripping, and the crushing expectations of being “a normal woman.” It is equal parts devastating, funny, and enlightening a memoir that feels as rebellious as it is redemptive.
At its core, this book is about identity. Brady was only diagnosed with autism in her thirties, after decades of being misunderstood by doctors, teachers, and even herself. Her story follows the messy arc of a life constantly out of sync with the world: growing up in a strict Catholic household, surviving homelessness, working in strip clubs, enduring toxic relationships, and enduring breakdowns that were dismissed as mere eccentricity. Yet Brady tells it all with biting humor and fierce clarity.
What sets this memoir apart is her voice. She’s not looking for sympathy. She’s dissecting her own life with the same precision she uses in her stand-up routines making even the darkest experiences feel strangely empowering. Her reflections on masking (the act of hiding autistic behaviors to “fit in”), meltdowns, and the exhausting pressure to perform femininity are both deeply educational and profoundly human.
As she describes it, being an autistic woman often feels like “everyone else is in a WhatsApp group you don’t know about.” That single line captures what makes this memoir so powerful. Brady translates her lived experience into something instantly recognizable, even for readers who don’t share her diagnosis. Her honesty about self-harm, addiction, and the raw loneliness of misunderstanding turns the book into a manifesto for empathy.
But it’s not all heartbreak. Strong Female Character sparkles with moments of absurdity and wit. Her reflections on stripping are unexpectedly thoughtful she describes it as another form of masking, a world of clear rules where social cues were simple and power dynamics were visible. There’s also an undercurrent of feminist rebellion: she questions every expectation society places on women, from how they should look to how they should suffer in silence.
Critics and readers alike have called this one of the best UK memoirs in recent years, and it’s easy to see why. Fern Brady has written something that is not only funny and raw but genuinely important. She gives visibility to autistic women whose stories have long been ignored or misrepresented. More than that, she reclaims the label “strong female character” from cliché and gives it meaning rooted in survival and truth.
Strong Female Character is brutally honest, emotionally intelligent, and unexpectedly liberating. Whether you come for the humor or the insight, you’ll leave with a deeper understanding of both autism and womanhood. It’s the kind of memoir that changes how you see people and maybe how you see yourself.
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