The Radium Girls: Uncovering the Hidden Tragedy of America's Shining Women

Mimi: I had no idea these Radium Girls existed. This book is an amazing body of research. The book is very interesting but, to be honest, it was kind of a slog. It read a lot like a master’s thesis and the sources are well-documented. There are two sets of Radium Girls – the ones in Orange, New Jersey, and another group over in Ottawa, Illinois. The book goes back and forth between these two groups of young women, how their illnesses from radium exposure presented, the doctors and dentists who treated them and then the LONG, drawn-out court battles. There is a huge cast of characters and the author, wisely, lists all of them up front. It is an exhausting book with a sad ending for most of the women suffering from exposure to radium. Corporate greed, inconsistent labor laws, statute of limitations, corporate denial, and pure negligence. These companies were full of liars, thieves, and frauds resulting in tremendous harm to these young women. They suffered greatly trying to find proper medical and dental care to diagnose their maladies. This is a very sad story with some positive worker-protection outcomes. Not a “light” book to read but I’m glad I learned about this sad chapter...

United States on Oct 16, 2023

DR Naturegirl: worth reading all the same. These women are Heroines of the 20th century and victims of institutional crime. The story is unbelievable and sadly true.

United Kingdom on Oct 02, 2023

Amazon Customer: Written beautifully so that you cannot help but feel for these people. A story that both angers and inspires you at the same time. How these women were treated is corporate greed at its ugliness but how the fought is humanity at its best. Everyone should read know this story .

United Kingdom on Sep 26, 2023

Jessi: I COULD NOT stop reading. I gasped out loud, got choked up, and was left absolutely stunned. The book truly brings the lives of these shining women to life. I felt their excitement, their pain, their heartache. They came alive, and I adored them. I wished their stories wouldn't end. And in a way, of course, they won't. But I was left wanting more moments of these women's courage and strength. The battle wasn't always easy, it tried and tried and tried the women, but that's what makes it relatable.

Moore does a fantastic job of giving each woman their voice. What they overcame is almost unbelievable. In hindsight, your heart clenches as the women revel in radium, ingest it, dust their clothes with it. Readers know what's going to happen. There were so many shocking surprises. So many underhanded moves that get your blood boiling. But also such dignity and grace in how these women lived their lives.

I was completely absorbed in the book. The stories unravel using diary entries, scrapbooks, courtroom transcripts, family interviews, and lots of research. Commendable job, Ms. Moore. This is a book that will stay with me. Highly recommended.

United States on Sep 07, 2023

Sharan McNaughton: This was a harrowing read at times, and I often could only read small passages before having to walk away, but the story is fascinating. What strong women they were.

Australia on Aug 18, 2023

Lauri Sim: I've had this book for a long time I've just, for whatever reason, not gotten around to reading it and I kick myself for not doing so sooner. Be prepared to laugh, cry, be angry, riot, protest and admire these extraordinary women. Their inspirational fight for justice in the face of misogyny, profiteering and greed it simply astounding. Their courage, strength and continued sacrifice and public spirit is simply inspirational and remarkable. Everyone must read this book.

United Kingdom on Jul 10, 2023

Lynda Kelly: God, this is harrowing, which of course, due to the subject matter I'd expected but it is really HARROWING. So many times I was gasping for breath as I sat here sobbing. You get to know some of these girls so well and like them so much and they died horrible, horrific, horrendous deaths and it was so bloody needless and so upsetting. As for the companies they worked for I have no words....they just behaved despicably, whichever side of the country they were based out of........
It was gratifying that 2 lawyers in particular took on their cases and did so much for them.....True heroes, those chaps, cos' they were properly up against it. Raymond Berry and Leonard Grossman (who even paid from his own pocket to assist them).
I used to do piece-work in a factory as these girls did and always put the end of a reel of soldering wire in my mouth to make it quicker, just as they did with their paint....however, I just burnt my tongue a few times......they didn't. It painted such a romantic picture, these glowing, beautiful young girls (and many were only early teens) when nobody had a clue of the godawful damage this stuff was doing. And to read this poison has a half-life of 1600...

United Kingdom on May 11, 2023

Kimberlie L.: This is an extremely well written account of the lives of the women who helped to change working conditions with dangerous chemicals forever.

The vile and atrocious actions of Radium Dial, what they did to these girls, how they tortured and murdered these girls, is repulsive and sickening. How this was allowed to happen for so many years is incomprehensible.

Forced to pay their own medical bills for years, while their bodies were literally falling apart, many were driven into financial ruin. Not just the girls themselves, but also husbands and parents, who gave all they had to get treatment for the girls. Homes were lost to pay medical bills, while all along Radium Dial was telling them the paint was safe, while still working hundreds of girls dipping brushes into radium paint and into their mouths.

"For almost six years, Radium Dial had known the women were radioactive. Yet the knowledge of the discoveries had been carefully concealed by the firm, who feared disruption of their business if the facts became known…the victims had not been informed of their condition, nor the cause, through fear of panic among the workers.”

The lives of these girls...

United States on Jun 27, 2021