What Are You Reading Now?
I recently completed Kate Moore’s “The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women.”
“The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women” by Kate Moore
It’s the true story of several young American women in the early 20th century who were among hundreds of girls who worked in radium dial factories. Their jobs were to hand-paint a paint containing radium onto dials for watches and other glow-in-the-dark panels. They were highly paid and the paint gave their bodies an eerie shimmer that gave them the nickname “shining girls.” They thought they were the luckiest girls to be alive, until they began to fall mysteriously ill.
This book is the poignant story of several girls who sought to gain justice for themselves and others who poisoned by the paint. It’s a gripping story of heartbreak, corruption, and personal triumph in one of the biggest scandals and battles for workers’ rights in 20th century America.
The book is expertly written; I couldn’t put it down. The pace is fast and engaging, and the individual stories compelling and worthy of compassion. I found myself moved to tears at several parts in the book, and rooting for the girls, who only wanted justice when they realized that they had been dealt a cruel death sentence by a substance that was supposed to be their ticket out of poverty.
I particularly appreciated how Moore used these personal stories to highlight deeper problems endemic in a capitalist society, and how the most indefatigable spirits overcame these otherwise depressing odds to win a battle for workers in that era and generations to come. Riveting and compelling, it’s one of the best nonfiction books I’ve read in years. I absolutely would recommend “The Radium Girls.”
Ganns Deen is a humor writer based in Canberra, Australia. He writes parodies and short comedy essays peppered with puns and other cringeworthy dad jokes. You can follow Ganns on Twitter @ganns and @gannsdeen on Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok.
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