Adversity of a female, untrue story engaging learner (10)

I believe the answer is:

affliction

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'adversity' is the definition.
(affliction is a kind of adversity)

'a female untrue story engaging learner' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (common abbreviation).
'untrue story' becomes 'fiction' (I am not sure about the 'untrue' bit.).
'engaging' is an insertion indicator.
'learner' becomes 'l' (as in a learner driver with L-plates on their car).
'fiction' going around 'l' is 'fliction'.
'a'+'f'+'fliction'='AFFLICTION'

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for affliction that I've seen before include "Cause of pain or harm" , "cause of severe distress" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.