Exploring class, mental health, societal pressures and individual ambition, Strong Female Character is a candid and groundbreaking memoir of neurodiversity, sexism and defying expectations.

Exploring class, mental health, societal pressures and individual ambition, Strong Female Character is a candid and groundbreaking memoir of neurodiversity, sexism and defying expectations.

The Books Are My Bag Reader’s Awards Non-Fiction Winner 2023

Winner of the Nero Non-Fiction Award 2023

‘If you’ve ever been on a night out where you got blackout drunk and have laughed the next day as your friends tell you all the stupid stuff you said, that’s what being autistic feels like for me: one long blackout night of drinking, except there’s no socially sanctioned excuse for your gaffes and no one is laughing.’

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.