High Energy Unpleasant is about a woman seeking relief from chronic pain

Fern Brady has written her first novel, about a woman suffering with chronic pain who tries out increasingly unorthodox treatments.

High Energy Unpleasant – to be published by Brazen in summer 2026 – is said to explode ‘bodily autonomy, medical misogyny and the repercussions of what happens when your internal world is suffocated’.

It follows Brady’s 2023 memoirs, Strong Female Character, which was praised for its frank discussion of her autism, and won the non-fiction category in the Nero Book Awards. That, too, was published by Brazen.

The company’s founder Romilly Morgan told The Bookseller: ‘When Fern writes, she writes with such originality that her depth and precision appear effortless. That's how she gets into the minds and matter of readers so effectively. High Energy Unpleasant is yet another masterstroke.’

And the comic’s Jess Molloy added: ‘Fern is always writing about topics just as they come to the height of public consciousness. I know that what she has to say with this novel will chime with readers in exactly the same way her memoir did.’

High Energy Unpleasant will be published on June 4, 2026, and can be ordered from Amazon, priced £20.

» Strong Female Character review

Published: 6 Dec 2024