Blog Tour: Strong Female Character – Fern Brady

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.

Fern Brady is a woman. She is also autistic. She was born in Scotland (no, not Glasgow). She has no presets for being a ‘good woman’ – she never hated her body or indulged in messy millennial shame. She now lives out of wedlock in London. She has zero children. Fern’s caustic wit, exceptional writing and electric stage craft has made her one of the UK’s hottest comedy stars.

As seen on Live from the BBC, Live from the Comedy Store, The Russell Howard Hour, and Live at the Apollo. She’s had viral success with her BBC Life Lessons and supported Frankie Boyle and Katherine Ryan on tour. She can currently be seen on Taskmaster on Channel 4.

My thoughts: I like Fern Brady, she’s a very funny, intelligent comic and her book, while often quite dark, is also funny and intelligent.

Fern was only diagnosed as autistic as an adult, but to her, it explained a lot about her childhood, her difficult teenage years and her twenties – where she struggled at uni and dealing with people.

She spent much of her teens dealing with CAMHS and some staff that maybe shouldn’t have been responsible for vulnerable young people. It’s only as she gets diagnosed and researches autism that her time in mental health units makes sense – she was only ill because no one took her autism seriously. Some of the doctors and psychiatrists she encounters are incredibly ignorant about the condition and keep telling her, a young woman having violent meltdowns, that she’s not autistic and that she just needs more medication.

It’s honestly quite shocking and really sad. It shouldn’t be that hard to get the right support and be taken seriously. Most autism research has historically been done with young boys, however, and well, women are better at masking the condition.

This is an incredibly brave and bold book, talking frankly about her experiences, life, and autism. I highly recommend it, and Fern’s comedy too.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.