Four brilliant books featuring Disabled and Neurodivergent Female Characters.
Want to escape inside a book whilst also feeling seen and validated? These books might just be up your ally, or between your pages... Whatevs.
Hi,
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A friend of mine said to me on a recent plane journey to Dublin as we both sat reading our respective novels, ‘reading keeps your mind sharp’ and I one hundred percent agree. But it's more than that for me. Reading's escapism, it's travel without having to move, it's history and presence and etymology. However, as a person with more than 5 different and coexisting health conditions, I find it somewhat difficult to relate to your average protagonist. The girl-boss, or even less so girl-next-door aesthetic, just doesn't seem to fit with the barely-functioning-human chic I have going on. But alas, these books listed below are inordinate luxuries which have both relatable protagonists, and the lyrical genius that the best stories demand. Thank me later.
Tia Williams: Seven Days in June and A Love Song For Ricki Wilde
I stumbled upon Williams’s work when Seven Days in June was suggested to me from my former book club podcast co host. At the time it was doing the rounds as a romance novel (a genre I've never been drawn to) and I was loathe to ‘waste my time’ on a book I wasn't going to enjoy. As the story goes (pun intended) I was categorically incorrect to assume that a partial narrative of such a complex and captivating story would be the whole book.
In fact when I think about Seven Days in June I don't think as much about the beautiful depiction of romance as I do about the badass, chronic migraine suffering, former addict protagonist: Eva Mercy. Eva is a single mom and a successful writer, but she is plagued by migraine attacks that are so severe she often has to inject herself with pain relief whilst also needing to take to her bed. The story evolves highlighting her health struggles as she tries to navigate the return of a lost love. This beautiful novel that runs parallel themes of sickness and romance is well worth the read! I don't think I've ever read a book in which migraine attacks are taken so seriously, shown with such prevalence and given the space this debilitating neurological condition deserves.
“The point is, I do a lot of mothering from the bed. Ordering dinner, checking homework, braiding her hair—all from the bed. Physically, I’m limited. But I can tell stories. Spin scary stuff into magic. Storms terrify my baby? I tell her she’s sensitive to rain ’cause she’s a weather fairy, like the impundulu in South African mythology. She’s got a sociopath for a grandma? In our house, she’s an eccentric feminist shero.” - Eva Mercy
A Love Song For Ricki Wilde
Ricki Wilde is at the centre of this stunning novel. It's a readable painting of evocative pictures during the Harlem renaissance. Flitting perfectly between then and now, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde has both.a slightly off piste and prominent supernatural storyline to it, which is a little surreal but works so well. It also shows with courage and accuracy the challenges made apparent when being a woman with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Another great romance is born from Williams's wild imagination and obvious experience of either being around women, or perhaps herself being a woman with ADHD. For me, the real story behind both of these books was written in the subtext. Romance, as aforementioned, isn't really my genre of choice, but somehow Williams managed to lure me in twice with her provocative character portrayal and relatable disability realness.
“She’d wanted to be easy to be around, because deep down, she believed that her true self was too much.” - Narrator on Ricki Wilde.
Kirsty Capes: The Girls
This one comes with a TRIGGER WARNING explicit content relating to mental illness, suicide and drug abuse, but my GOD is it a story to behold. The girls is written in the most stunning lyrical prose. A stream of consciousness drifting easily from the page. A fierce novel that holds nothing back when delving into the murky waters of mental health, trauma and tragedy. The novel is narrated by Matilda but includes several main characters battling their own demons. It shares how generational traumas can shape our future selves and gives courage to the idea that those heritable patterns can be reframed. Mental illness and addiction are ongoing themes throughout and they're topics written with such heart, I defy anybody to read this and come away dry eyed.
I felt myself becoming exhausted in my obsession with my sister’s mortality.” - Matilda Robb
Talia Hibbert: Get a Life Chloe Brown
Wow. What can I say about this one? I could have written it, I know that much. Chloe Brown is a heartwarming story that shares a very accurate narrative of someone living with fibromyalgia and it's 200+ symptoms.
The chapters contain eye rolls you can literally feel coming off the page when characters say things like “you don't look sick”
Get a Life Chloe Brown gives insight into heartbreak experienced from loss of friendships and feeling like a burden because of chronic illness. It’s also a book with heart, humour, and a realistic portrayal of needing painkillers to survive days and what it's like to be a young woman with an invisible disability.
“Physical overload led to pain and a complete dearth of spoons, also known as mind-numbing exhaustion; which led to extra meds and insomnia; which led to sleeping pills and too much brain fog; which led to, in a word, misery. When she found herself trapped in that cycle, Chloe was supposed to do certain things. Things like socializing with all her nonexistent friends, despite her inability to brush her teeth and change out of her pajamas. Things like forcing her battered body into excruciating Pilates positions, because it was sooo good for the muscles. Things like meditation, presumably so that she could think more deeply about how much she resented her own nerve endings. These, obviously, were the suggestions of specialist consultants who were rather clever but had never lived inside a body in constant crisis.” -Narrator on Chloe Brown
Thanks, Steph. I’m adding these to my library list!