Sunday, November 22, 2020

Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore

 

5 Star

In the early 20th century, the best jobs young women could get were in the factories.  These women were told radium was harmless.  One of best uses of radium was to paint the watch faces with it so it would glow.  The way the women would do this to get the crisp lines was to moisten the tip of the paint brush in their mouth and dab into the radium.  They would do this throughout their shift.  When they started to die, and others became ill it was brushed off.  This is the true story of the women who fought against big business to find financial relief and assistance.  It wasn’t just big business who denied the consequences of radium but also government.  With mounting lawsuits against companies using radium public support swung in the women’s favor and government had to step in and create new regulations to protect workers.

This was a horrifying book to read but in a good way.  It was well written, and I couldn’t put it down.  It was incredibly upsetting to read about what the girls and women went through and how they were disregarded by so many.  It felt like it was well researched and showed a different subject that isn’t talked about.  Moore balances telling the individual stories of the people vs business cover-up and corruption very well.  You never lose sight of the victims.  Highly recommend reading this book.

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