Fern Brady writes debut novel
- High Energy Unpleasant, the debut novel from Fern Brady, will be published in June 2026
- The story focuses on a woman who turns to a series of increasingly unorthodox treatments to find a cure for chronic pain
- The publishers say: "When Fern writes, she writes with such originality that her depth and precision appear effortless"
Stand-up Fern Brady has written her debut novel.
High Energy Unpleasant, which will be published in June 2026, focuses on a woman suffering with chronic pain who tries out increasingly unorthodox treatments.
The book explores "bodily autonomy, medical misogyny and the repercussions of what happens when your internal world is suffocated. It questions who owns our bodies - if we don't?"
The synopsis explains: "M is a woman suffering with chronic pain. She has been for as long as she can remember. No one can see it. So, no one believes it. Desperately seeking relief for the pain no one wants to treat she turns to a series of increasingly unorthodox treatments to find a cure."
In 2023, Brady wrote Strong Female Character, a memoir in which she talked about topics including neurodiversity. The book won a number of awards, including taking the top spot in the non-Fiction category in the Nero Book Awards.
Talking about the new novel, Romilly Morgan from publishing house Brazen 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."
Brady says: "Romilly Morgan at Brazen - along with the wider team at [publishing group] Octopus - made the process of publishing my first book a really hassle-free and surprisingly fun experience. I'm also excited by a lot of the titles Romilly has acquired since starting the Brazen imprint, so there was no question in my mind that they were who I wanted to work with on fiction."
Her agent Jess Molloy comments: "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 4th June 2026. It is available to pre-order now.
Fern Brady - High Energy Unpleasant
Fern Brady's debut novel explores bodily autonomy, medical misogyny and the repercussions of what happens when your internal world is suffocated. It questions who owns our bodies - if we don't?
M is a woman suffering with chronic pain. She has been for as long as she can remember. No one can see it. So, no one believes it. Desperately seeking relief for the pain no one wants to treat she turns to a series of increasingly unorthodox treatments to find a cure.
First published: Thursday 4th June 2026