The girl on the roof: The life of a change-maker by Valerie A. Brown

Subtitled ‘the life of a change-maker’ Valerie Brown’s memoir is a fascinating account of a woman’s life forged across changing eras from the lingering Victorian-era attitudes of her childhood in the 1930s to the Internet and ChatGPT era of today. Valerie Brown is 95 years old, she walks three kilometres with friends each day, and only after the age of 90 did she stop accepting supervision of PhD candidates. She describes herself as a revolutionary, a rebel, a reactionary, and a reformer. She is a change-maker.

The most enduring image of Brown is ‘the girl on the roof’, the girl who escaped from her nanny and her family to find solitude on the roof of the grand 19th century house which was her home, to read books and to gaze down on the life carrying on below her. Her determination to be a scientist (ideas and learning) as fostered by her father had to be married with the role of decorous young woman (action and rules about behaviour) as expected by her mother. That dichotomy pervaded her life, the holding of two incompatible ideas, leading to her espousal of new pathways in science, education and health, formulating innovative holistic approaches to problem-solving and change-making.

Whilst not describing herself as a feminist, Brown nevertheless broke down many of the barriers to working women and women scientists. Her memoir is an inspiring read for budding young female scientists, or for anyone who has self-doubts in the face of societal challenges. This book would be a good one to include in school libraries.

Themes: Science, Change, Women scientists, Feminism, Identity.

Helen Eddy