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The Radium Girls

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The Radium Girls

By: Kate Moore
Narrated by: Kate Moore
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About this listen

 Emma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf book club choice
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

All they wanted was the chance to shine. Be careful what you wish for…

‘The first thing we asked was, “Does this stuff hurt you?” And they said, “No.” The company said that it wasn’t dangerous, that we didn’t need to be afraid.’

As the First World War spread across the world, young American women flocked to work in factories, painting clocks, watches and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous – the girls shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in dust from the paint. However, as the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious and crippling illnesses. It turned out that the very thing that had made them feel alive – their work – was slowly killing them: the radium paint was poisonous.

Their employers denied all responsibility, but these courageous women – in the face of unimaginable suffering – refused to accept their fate quietly, and instead became determined to fight for justice.

Drawing on previously unpublished diaries, letters and interviews, The Radium Girls is an intimate narrative of an unforgettable true story. It is the powerful tale of a group of ordinary women from the Roaring Twenties, who themselves learned how to roar.
©2016 Kate Moore (P)2016 Simon & Schuster Americas Military United States Women Scary Heartfelt
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I never knew about the happenings of radium in 1920 and the effects it had on all, not just the workers. Thank you for producing this book Kate Moore. My eyes are now open.

I never knew

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The Radium Girls is like no other! I gasped, cried, cheered and cried some more with my hand on my heart.

Katherine and her colleagues loved their job. They were paid very well to work hard with their new found friends. After all they were contributing to the war the best way they new how, painting watches, clocks and military dials. The paint was luminous and the powder managed to get everywhere.

“It was perfectly safe” they were told and of course they trusted their employer - until they began to get sick! And their employer denied responsibility. How are they to blame when they only supplied the poisonous radium paint?

The fight for justice while suffering through crippling pain is nothing short of heroic!

A must read! And the audiobook experience was breathtaking!

A story like no other!

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Great read and interesting topic. Make sure you read till the very end. It will not disappointment!

Wonderfully researched

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What a story - an insanely and heartbreaking true story of the horrors of what these women went through and the unbelievable fight they had to endure for justice. The author did a phenomenal job with this book and her emotion is felt through certain parts of the book.

A book we all should know about

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I first became aware of this story through the Criminal podcast and got the book as a result. What an amazing story, written in such a way that I rode all of the emotions of these poor women who were poisoned by the job and the subsequent cover ups by the companies involved. An enjoyable read and glad to know more about these women who helped pioneer WH&S requirements.

A rich and detailed retelling of an important story

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Beautifully horrifying. A must read for people interested in the history of suffrage or just general history of nuclear science.

A book about forgotten heroes.

Absolutely a must read.

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this was one of the best books I've listened to. what an incredible story of pain, endurance, and resilience of women.

amazing

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Absolutely loved this book! Her voice is so soothing, the true story - just incredible! It was fantastic from beginning to end

Such a good story!

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This was one of the best books I've listened to in a long time. Such a great story of courage and determination. well written, researched and performed by the author. Although I was close to tears many times I it is a story that needed to be told!

Such a moving and disturbing story!

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Like Kate Moore, I discovered this story through directing a play about the Radium Girls called "Radium Girls" by D.W Gregory. Moore writes so beautifully and I cried so much thinking about these women and their unjust deaths. This book was beautiful and haunting and 8 highly recommend it

incredible and heartbreaking

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