The Radium Girls told a heartbreaking story that I had never heard before. The beautiful, young women took a job painting watch dials with radium...the amazing new discovery that could do everything from give you "glowing" skin to cure cancer. Unbeknownst to them, radium was a very dangerous substance that eventually took their livelihoods, their beauty and their lives. The story of how they fought to try to improve their health and working conditions not only for women, but all workers is as inspiring as it is heartbreaking. I've already recommended this book to everyone I know. These women were remarkable and their story should not be lost.

The Radium Girls

This is the story of the American factory girls who painted luminous marks on watch dials. It's astonishing and heartbreaking in equal measure. At times I was incensed and at other times moved to tears of both sympathy and fury at what was going on. This is a story which needs to be told and it's an incredible slice of social history with the focus on many of the women affected and how it changed their lives and that of their family. It's difficult to believe that in the face of mounting evidence it took so long to bring about the changes needed to ensure factory workers didn't die of radium poisoning.

In the early part of the 20th century, radium was considered something of a wonder and was promoted for home use for skin improvement, better health etc. Even into the 1920's, when the potential dangers were recognised, factory workers were ingesting radium daily. They worked in factories filled with radium dust ( which incredibly was collected from time to time, mixed with sand and donated to schools for their sandpits). The factory girls literally glowed and some would even wipe the dust on their teeth if going out to a dance. It was cool to have glowing teeth! The first factory workers earned phenomenal wages; although on piece work, they quickly established a 'dip, lip, paint technique' which allowed them to work very quickly.

Kate Moore's book looks in depth at a number of women who first worked with the radium paint and follows their story. She certainly gives these girls a voice which I suspect would otherwise have remained unheard. I understand that her research includes contact with direct family members of some of those involved and there's a real feel for personalities which brings the whole story vividly to life. Some of the detail is very difficult to read, but it's right that they are not forgotten. I suspect there's a bit of poetic licence with the dialogue, but for me, it's added to the authenticity without detracting from the facts, which are now well established.

Thought provoking and intense, I'm pleased I read this book and my thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore is a historical novel that everyone who is employed must read. It tells how a group of young female workers forced a change that lead to safer working conditions and the forerunner of OSHA.

It is the early 1920’s, a time of flappers, the Charleston and good times for many. The United States Radium Factory in Orange, New Jersey, Ottawa, Illinois and Waterbury, Connecticut employed many young women to paint watch dials with a newly discovered luminescent element also known as Undark. This enabled the watches and alarm clocks to be seen in the dark. Later this same substance was used in military application such as the controls of planes and the sites of rifles. The pay was better than other jobs these women could do and they had been told that radium was harmless. Indeed, it had been added to other products such as toothpaste and tonics and was thought to improve ones health. These women were instructed to paint using their lips to form a point on the brushes, thus ingesting the radium. Not long after the women noted that some of the workers began to sicken with a mysterious range of problems. Some of the women became severely anemic, others to lose their teeth or suffer from incredible disfiguring pain. They slowly began to die.

This is the story of how these women bonded together to sue their employers over an occupational disease. They fought to have the companies they worked for acknowledge their mysterious disease was radium poisoning and to change the statue of limitation in which an employee can become sickened and file.

But more distressing was the fact that in the early 1920’s, US Radium chose to ignore and disregard reports by a Harvard physiologist. He found that the workplace and the girls were contaminated by they radium. US Radium continued to tell the workers it was harmless and that all the girls were in good health. They hid these results from them for years. Such knowledge was bad for business.

Hundreds of women were employed in these factories swallowing radium, wearing clothing that glowed at night, later even mysteriously glowing themselves. These companies had wealth, the best lawyers and political contacts that these women lacked. Most of all these women lacked time. It became a David vs. Goliath battle with many women dying before the court battle could even take place.

It is uncertain how many of these workers died of radium poisoning, but due to their efforts the United States made occupational disease compensable and the time period the workers had to file was extended. But these changes took until 1948. That’s 30 years and countless women suffered and died for the financial gain of the company. These women were surely suffragettes for safe working conditions for women.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Publishing with no obligation to review it. This is my honest review.

Although the story of the dial-painters' lawsuits has been told, it has not been told from the perspective of the girls themselves. Most of them did not survive. They died drawn out, agonizing deaths, their jaws crumbled into pieces, their limbs shortened, of strange cancers for which their doctors had no answers. Their families bankrupted themselves trying to keep up with spiraling medical and dental bills. Then the girls, most in their twenties, started to die, in excruciating pain. Yet two radium dial factory owners denied any link between their employment painting radium dials and their sickness. They refused to even contribute to medical expenses. After all, most of the illnesses manifested long after the girls left their employment. Radium poisoning was unknown and labor law favored big business. And radium was beneficent, promoted everywhere! Lawsuits dragged out for years in the hopes that the plaintiffs would die. Many did.

Interestingly, it was not an American who chose to shine a light on this shameful but important piece of our history, but an Englishwoman.

Note: Be sure to read the introduction, in which the author details her extensive research. She mentions that she even visited some of the radium girls’ grave sites and corresponded with many descendants.

The Radium Girls is an informative, infuriating, entertaining read. It reads like a legal and medical drama that cannot possible be true; yet it is. Moore kept the memories of these women alive and told their stories in a wonderful manner.

WOW! Erin Brockavich meets Silkwood meets Norma Rae - this books is a movie mash-up of 3 powerful movie situations/stories/ignorances. . I loved it. This book broke my heart, pulled on my heart, gave me hope, shed light on many types of ignorance. Powerful book. Love the personification of the women/girls in the story...this isn't just a story to be told and science, it is about people who have a story to tell. Loved the insight and making the girls so central to the plot.

The Radium Girls was a tough read. I found myself crying on several occasions out of anger and compassion. And it was not always easy for me to read the descriptions of the girls' health problems and the symptoms of radium poisoning. This doesn't influence my review, but people that are a little sensible when it comes to these descriptions, like me, should probably know that before reading the book.

Before I read that book, I didn't know anything about the use of radium in the industry in the twentieth century. But when I saw it, I got interested and decided to read it. And although I didn't plan to, I finished this book within three days. The author's style of writing and the fate of the Radium Girls really got to me and I couldn't take it down. It has been one of these non-fiction books that had more suspense than a lot of fictional books. Kate Moore brings the Radium Girls to life without emotional manipulation or giving the reader a feeling that she invented a lot of details. This might be because she not only did extensive research and included many quotes from relatives and newspaper articles from that time, but she also directed a play about the Radium Girls. That might have surely helped her developing that lively narrative.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in women's studies or the history of laws to protect people at the workplace.

Thanks for writing this book. What a tragedy these girls went through when the affects of radium was little known. The struggles the girls and family went through along with the doctors who tried to help them. Eye opening the stance some doctors, legal system, and corporation went through to hide the dangers and failed to protect the innocent victims.

I received a free copy of The Radium Girls, a recreation of the lives of the many young New Jersey women brought down by radiation poisoning in the early 1900’s from Netgalley, Kate Moore and Sourcebook in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, for sharing your hard work with me.

Kate Moore brings us an intimate look through the eyes of these girls, recreating their lives from diaries, letters and court testimonies, tombstones, family stories and dusty archives. She brings to life these feisty girls who spent their days painting minuscule radium numbers on watch faces, gun sights, and airplane dashboards. This work, done quickly and well, provided a fine income for an artistic young woman. Many applied for these jobs and encouraged their sisters and friends to apply, as well – both for the experience of working with this miraculous material discovered by the Curie’s, and to do their part for the war effort. The price they paid for this experience was horrendous. This is a story that needs to be shared so their sacrifices are not in vain, and as a cautionary tale as our world spins rapidly into tomorrow.

Even though at times it felt the pace of the book got bogged down in details, it was a very compelling story that I could not stop reading. Before picking this book up I had never heard of the plight of the Radium girls or the huge impact they made on laws which now keep workers safe. The determination of these women in the face of almost insurmountable opposition by unscrupulous companies was truly inspiring. I think our patrons will enjoy this book very much.

I thought this was such an enjoyable nonfiction read. Can't wait to share this with some of my older teens and parent readers! This will be hugely popular with fans of Hidden Figures.

The Radium Girls were young, healthy, and in the prime of their lives until mysterious ailments start to affect them. This heartbreaking and powerful book tells the story of these young women who thought they were working in a safe industry - after all, the benefits of radium were being advertised in magazines, and what a beautiful glow it gave to the skin. But, when the truth comes out, these young women have to fight for justice. It's one of those books that's hard to say you love, because of the subject matter, but it really is a remarkable, well-written read. I highly recommend it to those who also enjoyed The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Hidden Figures.







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Tara McGuinness
Cuyahoga County Public Library /Bay Village

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I began reading this book with certain expectations, having been drawn in from the summary about shops hiring women to paint radium onto objects. Maybe I shouldn't have come into it with a bias, but I was expecting straight, factual non-fiction. However, for the facts presented around this dark time in our history, the author adds to it a sort of re-imagined day some of these girls would have. It was this mix of fictional accounts with the non-fiction approach that really just turned me off to this. I just wanted this piece of history to be told in a different way. I did not care for the artistic flourishes and was too put off by this approach to finish this book.

I finished reading this and immediately bought two copies for my cousin and my environmental health professor. It made my heart hurt, but I was so amazed

This book is extremely well written. Often nonfiction writers have trouble balancing historical and technical detail with narrative, but that is not the case here. Time and locations are easy to follow and the real life victims are impossible to forget.

Moore balances the horrors that the Radium girl's experienced with their enduring humanity and spirit. They are the heroes of their own loves, fighting for justice that they know they might never live to see. Every death feels like a personal loss and every victory feels hard won.

Having come across the Radium Girls in my studies several times, I knew what the history and the facts were about, knew what Radium poisoning looked like in these women. What I had not known, since chemistry and medical books don't tell you that, nor did I find this information in any history books, how hard the struggle must have been for the women and everyone helping them for acknowledgment of the disease and getting justice.

Kate Moore brought the "girls", who formerly were only names and figures to me, to life. She showed me how proud these women were to get specialised jobs that made a difference, especially a difference for their own lives and that of their families - at first in a very positive and then in a very negative way. Moore also showed me how hard it was to fight for justice and, what is most important for me, it is never in vain to fight for what is right.

I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Kate Moore's The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women. Thank you, Netgalley, Reading Group Guides, and Bookreporter!
The Radium Girls has illuminated a dark moment in the history of women in America. I hope that everyone reads this book; in fact, it should be required reading in every history class in the United States! The story of the dial painters is heartbreaking to say the least. I admire their courage and resolve in their fight for justice as well as for their lives. They paid the price for laws and regulations that are still in place today, and their memory should not be forgotten!
This work of narrative nonfiction reads like a thriller. Many times I found that I could not read it fast enough!

Many thanks to NetGalley for this advanced reading copy!

From the moment I started reading THE RADIUM GIRLS I was enthralled. The author’s goal for the reader to learn about each individual girl is thoughtful and ambitious. This is truly a book where the characters are at the forefront of the story. We see how each one, eager to earn a living, found Radium Dial and sealed their fate. The author handles the tragedy with diplomacy and underscored, yet effective use of detail, both medical and non (such as when one of the ill-fated girls catches a glimpse of herself in a mirror and sees her bones glowing through her skin. She realizes she has radiation poisoning and promptly faints.).

As I read, I became infuriated and frustrated with the way that the girls were lied to and manipulated by the company. Banking upon their innocence, the “doctors” that examined them kept the true results hidden, while telling them that they were the picture of health. Over and over, they would experience a toothache or jaw pain; the harbinger of things to come. Insidiously things progressed to such a degree that walking or eating without pain was impossible. Thankfully, finally, the stars aligned and the case was brought to court. I am still amazed that there wasn’t more public outcry at their plight; this would never happen today. (Or would it? See the author’s epilogue.)

The author’s style is clean and easy to read; letting the story shine through without calling attention to how it’s being said. Once the “how” overshadows the “what”, I lose patience with a book. The writing flowed naturally here, letting emotions build and always keeping the girls front and center.

Each life is carefully, lovingly recreated – all the hopes, dreams and horror each Radium Girl experienced. By making each “girl” have a background, this brings them to life and makes this tragedy more real. There are so many moments in this book that made me stop to think about these poor victims – if they were men, would things have progressed as far as they did? These lives were truly taken for granted to further Radium Dial’s needs. I’m not sure which is more terrifying; the fact that radium has a half life of 1600 years (meaning their bodies are still emitting radiation from the grave) or that no one thought to care more about these women who were clearly suffering. Even the dimunitive “girls” is simultaneously endearing and dismissive, if you think about it.

THE RADIUM GIRLS was one of the best books I’ve read in a while, partly because the subject is fascinating, and because it allowed me to feel a gamut of emotions; to have me truly invested in the story and its outcome. The strength these women possessed is evident on every page, keeping the tension high and making them heroines regardless of how they were treated.

Kudos to the author for illuminating their lives as she did! She took these “statistics” and made them human…forcing us all to think about how the girls were treated as disposable. The description of the court battles is very detailed, further underscoring the evil corporation’s plans to try to drag out the proceedings, hoping the women would die before they would have to appear in court.

I have nothing bad to say about this book; there is history, pathos, hope, and humanity on every page. This should be required reading for all managers and factory workers, both to keep these girl’s memories alive, and to prevent suffering like this from ever happening again.

A very compelling story, well told. I've already encouraged other colleagues to read it and gave a preview book talk to a woman waiting next to me at a restaurant - she is looking forward to finding it in her local library!