The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women

Kate Moore

Apr 2017 · Sourcebooks, Inc.

About this ebook

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 

Discover the gripping and inspiring true story of The Radium Girls, a groundbreaking work by acclaimed author Kate Moore. Immerse yourself in this compelling narrative that unravels the extraordinary lives of these fearless women who fought against all odds.

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. 

With meticulous research and a keen eye for detail, Kate Moore delves into the lives of these remarkable individuals, capturing their resilience, strength, and unwavering determination. Through their stories, she exposes the shocking negligence and corporate cover-ups that plagued the radium industry, ultimately sparking a revolution in workplace safety.

The Radium Girls is a masterful blend of historical account and heartfelt tribute. Moore's vivid prose brings these forgotten heroines back to life, ensuring that their sacrifices and triumphs are forever etched in our collective memory. As you turn each page, you'll be captivated by their indelible legacy and inspired by their enduring spirit.

The Radium Girls is a must-read for history enthusiasts, feminists, and anyone seeking a remarkable story of resilience and empowerment.

Ratings and reviews

I am voluntarily submitting my honest review after receiving an ARC of this ebook from NetGalley. The Radium Girls is so brilliantly awful that it is a must read for everyone, regardless of your preferences in genre. This is the story of the outright murder of young women in the pursuit of profit. Despite mountains of evidence proving that radium is a dangerous substance, young women were told it was safe to paint watch dials with it with no protection at all. The workers are even tested for radiation poisoning, with their results sorted by those most likely to die first, yet the women are not informed of these test results. In one of the most memorable scenes painted, a young worker even licks the brush she uses to paint radium onto watch dials to increase her accuracy as instructed! The crime itself is so shocking that if the author gets a little too passionate in the hard sell of the disgusting callousness of the corporate executioners of these workers at times, it is easy to forgive her. This book is a haunting account of the price these women paid for corporate greed and a shocking account of the depths of depravity humans are capable of sinking to in pursuit of the almighty dollar. It is a book that should linger long after reading it as a powerful reminder to humanity of what can so easily happen again if we relax our guard in this era of willful abandon of regulation designed to protect us from such depravity, deceit and greed. BUY THIS BOOK!!!

What a powerful book. From the first pages, the author beautifully brings these young women to life with direct quotes about how they felt to be a part of this exciting and lucrative industry. When these stories turn heartbreaking, I always am baffled about why the workers don't leave, but here I understood it completely. Some reviewers say they had to read this book slowly because it was too painful to take in large doses. For me it was such an intense page-turner that I read it all in five days, staying up for hours past my normal bedtime because I couldn't bear to wait another day to find out what would happen next to these astonishing women. The research and the writing are the reason I kept reading. Although I was bounced out a couple times by overdramatic authorial asides like "outright lie," the actual quotes from the women and the doctors and the executives would draw me back in. I tend to sympathize with the companies in these situations more than most people do. I imagine they had no way to know the extent of the danger originally, and once they had the evidence, how could they admit to it without putting their entire companies out of business and laying off thousands more employees beyond the ones specifically affected? Although the author doesn't share my viewpoint, she chipped away at my skepticism by providing lots of quotes from.the individual executives and lots of detail about the specific actions they took to mislead the women and their families. Fantastic, compelling book.

historical-research, historical-places-events, pathology, greed This book was a heartbreaking read. The clarity of descriptions of the destruction of their bodies and their lives gives testimony to the greed of the employers as well as the short sightedness of the purveyors who touted the health benefits of such products as radium water. And the girls themselves were unable to believe that having their clothes and bodies glow in the dark was anything but a bit of fun. I do wonder if anyone outside of the paramedical professions can see modern parallels. The writing is absorbing and one keeps hoping that something will ease their suffering. But we know better. When they finally find legal support, they still have to fight hard and suffer more humiliation. Their story needs to be remembered in its entirety, not only to grant them the dignity they were denied in life, but to serve as a warning to the future. I was provided with a free ARC at my request courtesy of NetGalley.

About the author

Kate Moore is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Radium Girls, which won the 2017 Goodreads Choice Award for Best History, was voted U.S. librarians' favorite nonfiction book of 2017,and was named a Notable Nonfiction Book of 2018 by the American Library Association. A British writer based in London, Kate writes across a variety of genres and has had multiple titles on the Sunday Times bestseller list. She is passionate about politics, storytelling, and resurrecting forgotten heroes.