A grim but important book highlighting a hidden piece of women's history. The struggles of the Radium Girls have affected workers rights in the United States, but their story is mostly unknown. Many of them did not live to see justice done, or never received any. Moore writes the stories of these women and their fight in an engaging manner without shying away from the more gruesome effects.

This was one of the most heartbreaking historic accounts I have ever read. It's a perfect blend of science, feminism, and historical amount of the lives of working women. An important account of how working work were often taken advantage of, but a triumph on the community of women who support one another.

This was FASCINATING. Kate Moore gives the Radium Girls faces and names and shines a light on the terrible practice of working with radium to create glow-in-the-dark watch faces in the early 1900s. It was truly terrible how these girls suffered and how they were gaslit to believe there was nothing wrong with them or left with no supports at all.

Moore personalises the tragedy and highlights how important it is to acknowledge their suffering and learn from it. Kudos to her for this fabulous book.

LOVED this book. Still haven't finished it completely because it's a long book, but I was sucked into the plot for the first half, ngl. Please write more books about women in history because this was well researched!

I found this book through Netgalley a few years ago. At the time, I found it hard to get into.
Since then, I’ve read more “serious” books, and so when I saw this one on my TBR list, I decided to give it a try.
And I’m so glad I did.
I don’t know what’s more heartbreaking, about this book, the story or the fact that it’s nonfiction.
Before reading this book, I had never heard of these girls. And you probably hadn’t either until now.
That’s why I wish more people read this book.
It’s such an important story to talk about.
It’s the best example of how horrible some companies are and the impact we as consumers can have by supporting them.
This book will break your heart and it will leave you feeling angry at the world for decades later still having similar problems.

Read my full review here: https://perusal.substack.com/p/book-of-the-week-18-the-radium-girls

This is such a beautiful story. I have loved every single page.
It's well-written and extremely engaging.

I loved the book but hated what happened to these young women who worked in the radium dial companies in the 1910s and 1920s. These women were told to stick a paintbrush into their mouths by the company to make the tip finer to paint a glowing green radium paint on the numbers of watch dials. These women get deathly ill, some of them dying long, painful deaths. The women who had gotten stick made several attempts to hold the company liable for their illness through the courts but initially, their attempts were rejected. The executives of the radium dial companies completely denied responsibility for their illnesses, lying to the public, not releasing test results to the women, gaslighting the women, and hiring "corrupt" doctors and executives to avoid responsibility.

I admire how these women banded together in an attempt to make these companies liable. The book portrayed a wide variety of women who had suffered from radium poisoning and were a part of the suits brought on. These women suffered from anemia, tumors, sarcomas, infertility, broken bones.... all resulting from radium poisoning. The women did want a monetary settlement to cover their astronomical medical bills, but what these women wanted more than anything was to ensure that other people were not harmed in the workplace like they were. The book did a great job portraying these women as strong, having each others back, etc. The book described in great depth how the women tried to hold these companies accountable for their actions and how their efforts pushed for safer conditions in the workplace. The author clearly spent much time researching, interviewing family members, etc.

Rating: 5 out of 5

This book was provided to me by NetGalley and Sourcebooks in exchange for an honest review.

Well written and intriguing story. I couldn’t stop reading! Loved the research that went into it and the attention to the women’s characters. This book is a must read. I’m

It took me a long time to read this book because I had to keep pausing to give myself a chance to digest what I was learning. Moore has written an incredible book and I hope people continue to read her work.

With thanks to netgalley and the author

Sadly I didn't download this title in time.

So can't really give a review

A brilliant book detailing the lives and subsequent deaths of the 'Radium Girls'. Working in factories painting watch dial faces with radium, these women were putting their lives on the line without even realising it. Nobody even takes notice until a man gets sick from radium poisoning and even then, the companies do everything they can to avoid paying any kind of reparations to the young women.

The writing is captivating and the stories of these women is so moving and infuriating that you just hope it has as happy an ending as possible. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have subsequently bought it for multiple people as gifts.

Meticulous research regarding what is an important and really quite interesting story. It's a deep dive into dozens of women poisoned at work with radium-based paint, and the subsequent legal battle. It's a very human story, but it could've explored more along the lines of the why it was such an uphill battle.

The writing is just clunky, not prosaic. Lots of unneccessary details, I struggled to get through it, and it was only my interest in the subject that kept me going.

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore

504 Pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks (Non-fiction), Sourcebooks
Release Date: May 2, 2017

Nonfiction (Adult), History, Radium Poisoning, Trials

This narrative covers the lives of several women that worked at two different radium factories. Their jobs consisted of using radium to paint luminous dials for watches and military instruments. Without their knowledge that the radium was poisonous, they would put the tip of the brush in their mouth to get the bristles into a point before dipping it into the radium powder and painting. They would leave the facility literally covered in radium dust.

The book is extremely well researched and written. By the time I finished the book, I felt like I knew all the women. My heart goes out to all the Radium Girls and their families. They certainly made an important moment in time for the world. Without them speaking out about the industrial poisoning, there could have been other future events with the introduction of nuclear technology. I really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it to everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

Wow. Just...wow. I had no idea. And now that I know, I can't stop thinking about it. I mean...WOW. What an incredibly frustrating, sad, and devastating saga. Radium, the element discovered by the Curie's, became the wonder drug and product of the early 1900s. People were ingesting it as a curative, and companies discovered it could light up - literally - numbers and letters on dials. With WWI this application proved wildly popular on the battlefields in giving soldiers time, coordinates, etc. So back home in the US of A, several companies started their own businesses painting clock dials and such. It was precise work and required minute detailing so a method for getting the radium on the numbers was devised. Dip the paintbrush in the radium powder, twirl that brush through the lips to wet it and get it to stick, and paint it on. After all, radium was being used in water and all sorts of other health-related items so there was no way ingesting it directly was going to cause any harm. In fact, one supervisor cheekily told the girls working in the shop that it would, "make their cheeks rosy." If a girl, and it was always girls, worked as a dial painter, everyone knew because she glowed. Literally. She carried that radium powder out of the studio each day with her. It was in her hair, her mouth, on her hands, and in her clothes. Known as the Radium Girls, these dial painters were luminescent in their communities.

And then they started getting sick. Aches, pains, acne that never cleared up, tooth pain that ended in extractions, unexplainable growths. fatigue, general malaise, cancer, and numerous other symptoms started presenting in the girls. At first, nobody connected it to their job as a dial painter. But the longer, and sicker, some of them got the more Doctors started asking deeper and more historic questions. Soon, the suspicion that radium was to cause was the prevalent thought. But that was bad news, awful news, to the companies making millions of dollars so they fought back. Despite their claims and coverups, science prevailed and proved that radium was dangerous and deadly. But it was too late for many girls, now women, who were infected through and through with an element that made them shine...even in their caskets.

Some people have taken issue with Moore and how she wrote this book (structure, etc) but I found it just fine to read. I had no problem with it. She provides the most in-depth coverage of the story from start to finish that she could with the materials and resources available to her. Her portrayal of the radium girls' health issues was just graphic enough to paint (no pun intended) a clear picture of how damaging, debilitating and devastating radium poisoning was. She presented a clear picture of the capitalism that drove the companies to neglect and, for all intents and purposes murder, their loyal employees. Money trumped human life and the companies proved it time and time again. It's disgusting. I found this to be a fascinating book to read and a topic to become familiar with as I was in the dark (pun intended) until now about this event.

Microhistories are my favorite, and this was a subject I knew very little about prior to reading this. Labor history and ignored women's history combine well for a super interesting read.

I had never heard of this era of history before. I love author not only describe yeah, but she's humanized each if the women.

This story is heart-rending and eye-opening. In this decade of revelation, we again learn of injustices done in the name of profit and hierarchy. Any fan of history or seeker of truth should read this book.

First sentence (from the prologue): THE SCIENTIST HAD FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT THE RADIUM. IT WAS tucked discreetly within the folds of his waistcoat pocket, enclosed in a slim glass tube in such a small quantity that he could not feel its weight. He had a lecture to deliver in London, England, and the vial of radium stayed within that shadowy pocket for the entirety of his journey across the sea. He was one of the few people in the world to possess it.

Premise/plot: The Radium Girls is nonfiction; it is a narrative account of the 'radium girls'--the women employed as dial painters whose exposure to radium (radium-based paint to be exact) proved costly and deadly. It is an account of the long, long, long, long BATTLE (yes, battle) for justice to be done.

There were several plants--or factories if you prefer--that employed women as dial painters. This is narrative focuses on three of them; readers are introduced to dozens of women; I wouldn't be surprised if it tells the story of three to four dozen women at least.

The story begins in 1917 in New Jersey and concludes (well, mainly concludes) in Illinois circa 1938. To read more about the Radium Girls (wikipedia).

My thoughts: The Radium Girls was a POWERFUL read that resonated with me from start to finish. I am so thankful that I finally got around to reading it. If you've been meaning to read it too but have been putting it off, then I encourage you to give it a chance.

I loved that it was a PERSONAL read. The women aren't mere numbers or statistics. Their lives AND their deaths had meaning; and as I believe it is mentioned either in the movie or the book their bones still are speaking to us. Even those whose voices were never "heard" in life--due to injustice and indifference--can be heard now and for the next thousand plus years. The narrative's greatest strength is that it focuses on the personal, the intimate, the real.

The read was both FASCINATING and DEVASTATING. It is hard to imagine today that no one wouldn't know that radium was DANGEROUS and to be radioactive is a BAD, BAD thing. But so much of the book focuses on this struggle between those that put MONEY, MONEY, MONEY first and foremost and those that valued HUMAN LIVES and HUMAN DIGNITY over profit, wealth, fame.

I was shocked--should I have been shocked???--at the out and out LYING and CORRUPTION. The doctors that were being paid/employed by the factories could run all their tests, do their examinations, and then say YES, YOU ARE 100% HEALTHY. NO PROBLEMS. All the while, your teeth are falling out, your face is swollen, you can hardly stand up straight, you're losing weight. Sounds like the perfect state of health, right?! In other words a lot of GASLIGHTING going on. But that isn't being fair. Not all doctors said the women were in 100% health--the best state of health they could ever be in. Some were for team misdiagnosis. Like let's diagnose you with SYPHILIS. Because that will make you quiet for sure--if you believe it. Who wants to be known to be dying from that!

But I was also encouraged by those that stood up to the big guys--the giants--and faced near impossible odds. It wasn't easy for the lawyers to take on, take up, this GIGANTIC mess of a case.

I was surprised by the resilience and attitude of some of the women. Some relied on GOD and turned to prayer and other spiritual disciplines for support, comfort, peace. Others relied more on FAMILY and FRIENDS for comfort, support, guidance. While the book mentions a few women's nerves or state of mind seemed to be negatively effected by the diagnosis, I was surprised it wasn't more. It couldn't be *easy* on one's mental health to be diagnosed with a FATAL DISEASE with NO CURE and little proven treatment. The strength and courage it would take to face each and every day is not to be discounted. We're talking tremendous physical pain with no hope of relief. Not really. Every day would be a choice--to despair or to cling to hope.

It's impossible to read this novel and not turn introspective. WHY DO I COMPLAIN SO MUCH?

I picked up Radium Girls after watching Radium Girls the film. I don't know that there is any connection whatsoever between the book and the movie--besides the name. The film is FICTIONAL through and through. The characters are probably composites drawn from real people but not actually based on any specific people. At least I found that to be the case. I could be wrong.

A very dark tale of how women were exploited and then ignored after working at a factory that used Radium. These brave women fought to be heard and to fought to hold those responsible accountable for their actions.

A must read!
This book shows the dangers workers have to go through without a second thought from the employers.
Looking back and knowing what we do now about how dangerous the substances that those women worked -and regularly ate as part of their work- is now, this book was sometimes ard to read but that makes it an even more important book.
Even back then people in higher places msr have known the dangerous, especially as the women started to glow! But they didn't care enough to stop the work or change how it was done to make it saver.
And sadly I think a lot of work places still have that problem today.

A fascinating read and one that I think everyone should give a go!