Today I’m joining the blog tour for Strong Female Character. My review is written with thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the tour and to the publisher for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

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.

Review:

I’ve seen Fern Brady on panel shows and quiz shows, but I’ve never seen her performing stand up, and after reading Strong Female Character, that’s something I’d like to change. Her writing style is conversational and engaging and this memoir provides a fascinating insight into her life, particularly her childhood and teenage years.

Fern Brady is autistic, and was diagnosed fairly recently – as an adult in her thirties. As a child, she knew she struggled to fit in with her peers, but what she now knows were autistic traits were misdiagnosed as a number of mental health conditions and treated accordingly. She writes about these periods in her life with refreshing honesty, and, of course, humour. It’s rare to read about autism from someone who is autistic, and Fern Brady is incredibly articulate about how her autistic traits manifest themselves and how they affect her ability to function in her daily life. I found this absolutely fascinating and I’d like to think it will help me to think more carefully about how I interact with autistic people in the future.

Fern Brady’s autism does underpin everything she does, but there are other stories and anecdotes that add humour to what have clearly been challenging times. She is a similar age to me so I could relate to some of her experiences and this kept me thoroughly engaged in the book.

I listened to most of Strong Female Character as an audiobook, which is narrated by Fern Brady herself. I love memoirs read by the author and this is no different. She brings so much life to her own story that it is impossible not to feel all the emotions that are part of it.

Strong Female Character is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: