The Radium Girls

When America went to war in the early 1900’s, it was the women left behind that went to work in factories and offices to support their families, and our boys overseas.  These women left behind did every kind of job from operating heavy machinery to painting luminous dials on the faces of watches and clocks for the military.  This luminescence was a new discovery, but very handy for the soldiers serving in trenches and night warfare conditions.  And those watch faces weren’t the only things glowing either – the women painting them started to glow, too!

Kate Moore painstakingly shows how The Radium Girls as they came to be known went from factory workers to one of America’s first labor rights and workers compensation lawsuits.  Radium, first discovered in 1898 by another contemporary of the times Marie Curie, was touted as harmless, even as medicinal.  This well-researched historical novel depicts the struggles these women had to endure including misdiagnosis, gas lighting by their employers, and the health and court battles that ensued.

I give The Radium Girls 4 out of 5 stars.  While I was aware of the damage radium caused to Curie, I had no idea of its impact in the US.  I was impressed by the narrative written throughout the book, but did have trouble following each woman’s story from start to finish and often found myself mixing up the characters.   I could see this becoming a historical fiction film based on the style of writing and subject matter!  I was surprised at the depth the epilogue and author’s notes went to in detailing the impact these women had on the world, including their volunteer work to help the Atomic Energy Commission understand the impact and importance of radiation fallout when ingested.

This is the perfect book for history and science buffs – the reference to current events and the science behind the discoveries intrigued me.  I would also recommend this book to the citizens around the towns where these companies operated – Orange, New Jersey, and Ottawa, Illinois.  Also, if you are interested in the history of workplace management ethics and labor laws, this is a great read to give a basis for occupational safety standards.  I would caution against this book for anyone currently undergoing cancer treatment or their caretakers – the medical treatments, tests, and discussions may be too close to home.

I chose The Radium Girls for the Booklist Queen Reading Challenge prompt “An Audiobook”.  If you’ve been following the blog for long, you’ll know I listen to quite a few audiobooks each month.  My current ratio tends to hover around 40-45% audiobooks, 55-60% print books (ebooks included).  This particular book was available for free with my Audible Plus subscription.  Given that this book was a 2019 award winner from several sources, it has been in my TBR list for a while!  I also chose this one because of it’s link to a movie that just hit the theaters – Oppenheimer.  The work of both The Radium Girls and the Manhattan Project fall in the same time period between the World Wars.  It wasn’t until the Manhattan Project scientists studied the medical tests and bodies of these women that they fully understood how dangerous their own discoveries could be.  These women are the reason for so many precautions and occupational safety regulations still in place today.  While the story of these women was largely hidden away from public view, this book documents their fate and brings their lives the honor they so rightly deserve!

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What I’m Reading

• Current print book: Patriot Games, Tom Clancy
• Current audio book: John Adams: A Live, John Ferling
• Book I’m most looking forward to: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, Kim Michele Richardson