The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women (Harrowing Historical Nonfiction Bestseller About a Courageous Fight for Justice)
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A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts Bestseller!
“the glowing ghosts of the radium girls haunt us still.”—NPR Books
The incredible true story of the women who fought America’s Undark danger
The Curies’ newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.
Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” are the luckiest alive — until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.
But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women’s cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America’s early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights that will echo for centuries to come.
Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the “wonder” substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives…
From the Publisher
Publisher : Sourcebooks
Publication date : March 6, 2018
Edition : Reprint
Language : English
Print length : 504 pages
ISBN-10 : 1492650951
ISBN-13 : 978-1492650959
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 5.25 x 1.26 x 8 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #4,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #7 in Women in History #29 in U.S. State & Local History #38 in Women’s Biographies
Customer Reviews: 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (23,810) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
9 reviews for The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women (Harrowing Historical Nonfiction Bestseller About a Courageous Fight for Justice)
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Marisa Campos –
Must read!
Incredible true story; I could not put this book down. Excellent research and storytelling.
Fluffyluggage –
Heartbreaking, but also engaging and informative!
This book is incredible! These amazing women from our past–there’s really no other way to describe such brave women who had the courage to stand up and fight a government, a business, an industry, and a complete system that was firmly against them… when they were in pain, suffering devastating illness and disease. This book is just incredible. It will bring you to tears, but it’s not all sad. It’s also very heartwarming and absolutely brilliant. Very well-written, it captures the hearts of these ladies who clearly had a zest for life, wanted to help their country, and then later help their fellow women. This is a testimony to the strength of women, and all of these women were strongly Christian, praying regularly for themselves and each other, at a time when the country was very Christian. This is an absolute must-read!!
H. G. Heren IV –
Innocence, Poison, and the Glow That Wouldn’t Fade
Kate Moore’s The Radium Girls is one of those books that makes you want to alternately hug the young women in its early pages and then throw the nearest hard object at the management offices of every radium company in the United States. The opening chapters are almost too sweet, with the young women, bright-eyed, innocent, and armed with nothing more than a steady hand and a dream of a steady paycheck, painting luminous dials as if they were painting their way into history. Spoiler: they were, just not in the way anyone had in mind. The image of girls smiling as they “lip-pointed” their brushes, swallowing poison while unknowingly lighting their way to tragedy, is gut-wrenching in a way that sticks to your ribs far longer than the glow-in-the-dark paint stuck to theirs.As the narrative shifts, so too does the tone, moving from naïve joy to the corporate equivalent of an ice bath. The businesses, confronted with the obvious truth that their workers were wasting away like candles left in a furnace, responded not with humanity or decency but with the kind of cold-hearted abdication of responsibility that would make even Ebenezer Scrooge raise an eyebrow. Every excuse, every denial, every instance of “surely it must be something else killing them” reads like a masterclass in how not to have a soul. The management, faced with suffering they had the power to alleviate, instead chose the noble route of circling wagons, covering tracks, and gaslighting the very people whose bones were literally crumbling.And yet, Moore’s writing never lets the women fade into victimhood. The bravery, tenacity, and sheer refusal to be silenced is the glowing core of the story, a reminder that sometimes justice doesn’t arrive neatly packaged but dragged in, kicking and screaming, by those who simply won’t quit.This book is infuriating, inspiring, heartbreaking, and oddly luminous; an unforgettable story of innocence lost and courage found, told with a sharpness that makes the injustice burn as brightly as the paint once did.
Taisynn –
Fantastic Book! Great Read! Read on Kindle Oasis.
This book is a work of narrative non-fiction that was both fascinating as well as horrifying. These women, trying to do right by their country by painting glowing dials for our armed forces, were placed in harms way by a ruthlessly cruel, indifferent company.The United States Radium Corporation (USRC), for years knew that radium was dangerous and even gave their male employees protective gear. Yet the women painting the dials and turning out the profits for the company were not told of the dangers and encouraged to lip point, putting the radioactive paint-covered brushes in their mouths, in order to pinch pennies. In the desire to put profits first, they knowingly lied to their female workers that placing the brushes in their mouth and consuming radium was safe.They used every dirty legal trick in the book in order to keep their profits to themselves; even when these women, these loyal employees, were becoming crippled and disease ridden from their paint, they turned a blind eye and put fraudulent studies forth to discredit the women. Many women died in abhorrent conditions, suffering, destitute, and maligned by the company. Even pleas, on merciful grounds, were ignored.These selfless women fought the first battle towards today’s Occupation Health Standards as well as for compensation, safety gear, and information on avoiding possibly lethal or harmful hazards in production. They, and their selfless lawyers, fought for the right not to be exploited and sacrificed in the name of corporate greed.This book brought out the human side of the entire equation; not only the greed and apathy of corporate powers, but also brought to light the not just the suffering of these women, but also their accomplishments, hopes, dreams, and families. It wasn’t just a morbid telling of horror and pain, but also the tenacity of the human spirit to survive and provide for loved ones.I very much encourage people to read this; it is not only a perfect time to read it, when the holiday for Radium Girls and the statue erected in their honor is coming up on September 2nd.
Living –
Es un libro grande, pero ameno, aunque es una investigación periodística me pareció muy bien escrito. Una historia real triste
Nightreader –
Als die “Radium Girls” ihre tägliche Ration mit radiumhältiger Leuchtfarbe bemalter Armbanduhren herstellten, gab es in Amerika noch kaum einen gesetzlichen Schutz für Arbeitnehmer, die an berufsbedingten Leiden erkrankten. Niemand kümmerte sich darum, als den Frauen die Zähne ausfielen, die Kieferknochen bröckelten, Mund, Zunge und Schlund von Geschwüren zerfressen wurden, ihre Beine ungleich lang wurden. Ärzte, die keine Ahnung hatten, was Radium wirklich bewirkte, schrieben alle möglichen Verlegenheitsdiagnosen in die Totenscheine. Anwälte, an die die Kranken sich wandten, zuckten die Achseln. Wie beweisen, dass das angeblich so gesunde, erfrischende, jungmachende radium, dieser “trinkbare Sonnenschein”, dieses “Jugendelixier” nach Jahren seine teuflische Wirkung entfalten würde, indem es von innen heraus die Knochen zerstörten? Nicht einmal Marie Curie (die daran starb) glaubte daran. Der Konzern, bei dem die Frauen angestellt gewesen waren, kämpfte mit einer unglaublichen Brutalität und Menschenverachtung um jeden Fußbreit Boden, obwohl sogar der Begründer der Firma daran gestorben war. Alle juristischen Tricks, aller Zynismus, alle Gemeinheit wurde ins Feld geworfen, um die Klägerinnen hinzuhalten, bis sie von selber sterben würden. Ein Anwalt, der sich um sie annahm, warf das Handtuch; ließ sich vom Konzern einen Knebelvertrag abringen. Ein anderer war mutiger. Er gewann den Kampf gegen eine mächtige, politische einflussreiche Firma mit unbegrenzten finanziellen Möglichkeiten. Die “Ghost Girls”, wie man sie wegen ihrer im Dunkeln sichtbaren grünlichen Aura nannte, erhielten ihr Recht – und die Gesetze zum Schutz der Arbeitnehmer wurden geändert.
cellarpat –
This book was heartbreaking. The true story of the girls who painted radium pieces for dials, clocks and watches during WWI, the 20s and 30s. Many of them were very young when they started (as young as 13!) Most of them died young as well. The suffering they endured was unbearable and the battle they fought was incredible. Their story resonates through to today, with occupational health and safety legislation becoming more comprehensive as a result of their battle and sacrifice.Beyond the health and safety aspect, the experuence of these unfortunate women illustrates other issues as well – the gender disparity (if they were men, the problem would have been addressed much more quickly), the plight of the working poor, the lack of affordable medical care, and the callousness of the industrial employers.This book was well written, extremely well annotated, and, I suggest, very comprehensive. I highly recommend it.
Shubhashree M. –
Nice
Kindle Customer –
I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and finished the read in 2 days because I just wanted to hear that justice was recieved. The read gave me much to reflect on and consider the ongoing plight for the under privileged. Well worth the read.