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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Drawing on previously unpublished diaries, letters and interviews, The Radium Girls is an intimate narrative of an unforgettable true story.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
All stars
Most relevant
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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An amazing story about such incredible women. Love the knowledge, thanks for telling their story.

WOW!

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This book is phenomenal. It is very informative, almost too graphic at times (while not being exploitative). This is an overlooked part of history which many people do not know about. I would give a warning to anyone who has a phobia about dentists/dental procedures/teeth that some bits of the book may trigger you.

A overlooked part of history

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It's never easy to read about desperately sick women dying in agony as their loved ones watch on helplessly. Nor is it easy to read about amoral company executives who know their product is killing their workers but lie and cover up to keep the profits mounting and then try every legal means to avoid paying even meagre compensation. But this book exposes a scandal which deserves to be more widely known, Kate Moore expertly recounts the story in a way which combines factual reporting with heart-rending personal accounts, and her narration is perfect - her acting ability no doubt being a big plus, This story started to unfold more than 100 years ago but there are still lessons to be learned. Highly recommended.

A very important book

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I came to this book after hearing the author discuss the radium girls on an episode of the Criminal podcast.
It’s meticulously researched and excellently crafted, and despite enjoying most of it I have struggled to finish it as it does seem to drag in the final chapters. It also suffers from a bit too much of an emotive performance from the author. It’s welcome in the first half or so of the book, as it makes the women come alive, but as the legal and medical cases progress, the delivery begins to border on melodrama. “Fair enough” I thought, “the book is wrapping up after all”, but then I discovered there were still hours left to go and it feels like we’ve reached fever-pitch far too early.

Seems counter-intuitive, but I reckon the content of the story is so moving by itself that it can be just as adequately conveyed without as much performance. It’s for this reason the last few hours has been feeling like a slog, but these things are subject and the book is well worth a listen anyway.

Fantastic story, but the execution is left wanting

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I throughly enjoyed this! It is not a book I would typically read however it was chosen by my book club for this month and I am so glad it was! I have learnt so much about something I knew nothing about. This book is so empowering. I could not stop listening to it.

Fascinating

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