Brazen to publish Fern Brady’s High Energy Unpleasant

Brazen, an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group, has acquired High Energy Unpleasant by Fern Brady.

Brazen publisher Romilly Morgan acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Jess Molloy at Curtis Brown.

The book explores "bodily autonomy, medical misogyny and the repercussions of what happens when your internal world is suffocated".

The synopsis states: "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."
Brady’s memoir, Strong Female Character (Brazen), was awarded British Book of the Year: Audiobook Winner 2024 and was crowned Nero Book Awards Winner 2023, as well as receiving other awards and accolades.

Morgan said: "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 added: "Romilly Morgan at Brazen – along with the wider team at 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.”

Molloy commented: "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 in June 2026.