Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.
This is a well researched, well written, amazing piece of non-fiction that traces the lives of the women who painted watch dials in the radium-dial factories. Few really knew the danger of radium poisoning and those who did certainly weren't telling. It shows the strength and tenacity of these women who lived in the early 1900s when women were not expected to take the lead in tracking down and stopping the abuses that were occurring. This is a book that needs to be read. I found it slow going because it became overwhelming but definitely worth the read.

Very well written story! The author was able to portray the characters' feelings so well and the degree of information provided was good. I for one, had not heard about this tragedy until reading this book. Thank you for taking on this project so that these women are not forgotten.

An emotional and fascinating read.
I had to think about this for a long time before I could write down my feelings, and even now I can't quite gather them together. I urge people to read this.

I saw this book while browsing NetGalley for something to read. I had always skipped over it because it had already been published and I was trying to do good with my turn in dates. However, while watching PBS one night, I managed to catch the last 15-20 minutes of the program talking about The Radium Girls. I was fascinated. I immediately went and requested the book. I had to find out more about Radium and the destruction it did to these young women who worked with it.

First off, let’s start with the fact that Radium has a HALF LIFE of 1,600 years! Let that sink in. When most of us are gone, any Radium used in WW 1 and WW 2 will still be radioactive and wreaking havoc on anything it touches. When Radium was first created it was used in basically everything. It was used to “cure” cancer as it would eat the cancer cells but then eat the healthy cells as well. They made Radium make-up, lingerie, jockstraps, butter, milk, and toothpaste. During WW 1, it was the IT job to have. Girls made crazy amounts of money that let them dress in furs, the latest styles and have custom ordered dressed made for them. Everyone wanted to be a dial painter. Each girl was given a dish of powdered Radium and a white dish of gum arabic. They would take their brush, twirl it on their lip, dip it in the Radium mixture and then paint. They would repeat this over and over. Ingesting Radium as they went. The mixing of those compounds created a paste and made the Radium glow allowing them to paint clock faces for the soldiers. The girls would glow as they walked home. Their hair, face, clothes, everything. They were never told that it was a dangerous substance. Slowly they began to start having their teeth pulled. They started to limp and have stillborn/ miscarried children. Eventually, their jaws and skulls would abscess away. Some unlucky girls started to grow tumors in their shoulders, arms, legs, hips, uterus, and back. Some growing so fast that they would shatter the bones and break through the skin. Both they and their families started to take a stand suing the Radium companies for pain, suffering, medical bills, lost wages and eventually funeral costs. They went to court over and over. Each time the evidence was that the Radium was perfectly safe and caused no health issues. The Radium companies were doctoring the results so that no one saw what the reports really said. Will the Radium companies continue to win and brush the results under the rug? Will the multitudes of women eventually help change OSHA standards to what they are today?

This book was fascinating, sad, brave, and so hopeful all at the same time. The way the women’s bodies fell apart before their eyes was absolutely heartbreaking. The women who carried children within them just to deliver a dead child is heartbreaking. It made me hug my own children close. The ones that did manage to carry full term and deliver had a child that was always small and always behind on the growth scale. The way the women carried on knowing they were going to die but wanting to see it through til the end is so hopeful. They wanted retribution for what had happened and would happen to their friends and family. They never gave up hope. Finally, in 2011, a memorial to The Radium Girls in Illinois was erected after an 8th grader learned about what had happened. She slowly raised the funds and a bronze statue was erected in their honor. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because it seemed to drag on for forever. I could read it for an hour and still be no farther ahead than what I was when I started. Don’t get me wrong, the book was amazing it was just a long read.

I had some inkling of the history of the Radium Girls coming into reading this book, but even so, I had no idea how devastating this was going to be to read. The history of the girls and their radium poisoning was traumatic, but the depth of detail that Moore goes into with each of the girls adds so much more heartbreak to the whole story. Reading along with each of them as they start working as dial painters, so full of hope for their lives and joy at the good money they were making, and their glee as they discovered that when they came home from the factory and shone in the dark - and then being confronted with their declining health, as they are told over and over again that radium is perfectly safe - it's utterly heartbreaking.

This is not a book for the faint hearted, because it does go into a fair amount of detail about the physical effects the girls had from radium exposure, and some of the details will linger with me for a long time. But it is worth pushing through those details if you can, because the utter strength of these women, even as they lived in severe pain, is incredible. These women changed the world, and they deserve to be remembered.

Highly recommended.

Lick. Dip. Paint.

These three steps condemned many girls to years of pain and a shortened life. As they slowly suffered from radium poison, their company not only refused responsibility for creating a harmful environment but went so far as to hide or destroy evidence that showed contrary.

I first heard about "the radium girls" when reading Sam Kean's The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons (this book has created a science TBR list for me of the most interesting cases).

The subject matter of The Radium Girls is morbidly fascinating and infuriating. What these poor girls had to go through, the pain they suffered, and what a corporation did to hide or ignore their pain is tragic and despicable.

Moore does an amazing job researching and creating a cohesive narrative. I look forward to seeing what she writes next.

This book was a tough read in that it was extremely graphic and extremely sad. To read what these women went though after painting radium dials was shocking and then to learn of the denial as these women were suffering was unbelievable. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes history, social justice, and a good, informative read.

When Marie Curie discovered radium, it was hailed as a miracle cure. Most of its properties weren't even well known, but it could be added in minute amounts to paint and make it luminous, which was then used for watch dials and military consoles. Young girls were employed in factories prior, during and after World War I painting the dials. The favored technique was to shape the brush, dip it in the bowl of paint, then paint the dials. At the time, it wasn't known what this could do to the girls, and as information gathered about the effects of radium paints, the companies involved actively hid it and lied to the girls.

Kate Moore did extensive research into the work records, health records, and court transcripts. She interviewed surviving family members, went to their hometowns, walked the paths that the ladies took. This kind of research shows, because the story unfolds and seems almost effortless while reading. The ladies in the workshops come to life and are slowly, painfully, suffering from the effects of radiation poisoning. All of the workplace regulations that we have now are because of their efforts to take the companies to task. The horrible pains, losses, and illnesses suffered are outlined, and it really brings home the difference a hundred years of knowledge can make. These ladies struggled to find justice and finally won that battle in court.

Some sections seem to flow more like a play, and Ms. Moore's background in the theater is evident here. She obviously cares about this topic and the ladies she researched, and you learn a lot about all of the ladies and their families in this era. This is a hard read in places because of that, and I had to continually remind myself that we now have laws and regulations in place because of these very abuses of power. Still, I couldn't help but think about the ladies and the effort involved long after I finished the book.

This was a very interesting and emotionally engaging book. I had some vague knowledge of the "radium girls" before reading the book, but had no idea of the impact that their pursuit of justice had on the country-- expanding and improving compensation for occupational diseases, contributing to the creation of OSHA, leading to stringent safety precautions for the workers on the Manhattan Project, establishing the dangers of radiation exposure on the human body, etc. The author does a great job of bringing the dial painters to life, discussing their appearances, interests, aspirations, families, reasons for working as a dial painter, friendships, and interactions with each other at work. She goes into detail regarding their medical ailments, the medical and dental visits, the uncertainty of the doctors and dentists about what was causing the symptoms, the research that suggested a possible link to radium, the accidental discoveries that provided insight (such as bones left on x-ray film leaving a white glow on the paper), and the opposition to the idea that radium, which was considered a wonder substance, could be poisonous. The author describes in great detail the legal efforts to obtain justice and compensation for the women, as well as the efforts by the companies to hide knowledge of the harms of radiation (including company medical tests that supported the claims of the women). My only criticism, and it is a minor one, is that while the author uses dramatic descriptions to evoke an emotional response from the reader, at times the author seems to be overly dramatic when discussing certain events or the conditions of particular women. Overall, a book well worth reading.

This book made me so unbelievably angry. It tells the true story of the women who worked as radium-dial painters during World War I, and all of the health issues they suffered because of their constant exposure to radium. The fact that the company was so determined to avoid compensating these women as they died agonizing deaths was infuriating. Moore does a great job of bringing these women's voices back to life while holding the radium-dial factories accountable for their actions.

Radium Girls is a must read. It is part of the American history and this women need to be remembered.

Fantastic, very readable non-fiction. This story was heartbreaking and empowering. A group of women who suffered and then fought to change the law knowing full well they would never benefit financially from it themselves. An important piece of history.

An excellent book - as a science teacher I was familiar with the science of radium and the phenomenon of radium poisoning, but this book brought the dry science to life. Although the phrase 'brought to life' is ironic, since it would be more accurate to say that the book made more real the many terrible sufferings and painful deaths endured by the young girls who painted the luminous dials of watches and gauges in the early twentieth century. The truly vile manoeuvrings of the factory owners to avoid liability over the predictable damage is as evil as anything described in the fiction of John Grisham. A very good read that - hopefully - shows how far we have come in protecting workers from occupational illness.

From the Radium Girls' torment from the radiation poisoning that devoured them from the inside-out, the unbelievable array of barriers thrown in their way by their employers in the quest that many of the girls made for justice and simple recognition, to the effects that have rippled out to this day in so many ways, and everything in between, this is an incredible story whose subjects Moore does immense justice to in a detailed narrative that
very successfully shocks and disgusts beyond words yet will also leave readers inspired and awed by the time they reach the final page.

Another disturbing chapter of our history revealed.

Not since The Lilac Girls has a book made such a distinct impression on me. I just sent an e-mail to over 20 women urging them to read this book. I so appreciate the opportunity to read quality books like this and recommend them to others.

This book uncovers an important part of American social and labor history that until now has been kept in the shadows. I applaud the author, who did a fabulous job bringing these women to life from their graves to tell their story.. I highly recommend this book.

I must start off by saying that this is not the type of book that I usually read. I saw a video on Facebook about these 'Radium Girls' and decided that I would definitely have to read this book.

I cannot believe that I did not know about this before. This was such a sad book. These girls (and some men) sacrificed so much so that others could be safe. It was really a heart-wrenching read. Before their symptoms started, they were so happy and carefree. This book details their struggles with their health and their fight for justice.

They won in the end but sadly, it was too late for many of them.

This is an absolute must read. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebook for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A truly astounding tale but it's not for the faint of heart. The real-life struggles of these women will break your heart. A very important story for not only Americans but people worldwide. These women stood up for their rights and won valuable protections against industrial abuse of workers. Their stories are truly horrifying and disturbing. The topic which lends itself to discussion so this would be an excellent choice for a book club.