The Radium Girls: They paid with their lives. Their final fight was for justice.

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Emma Watsons Our Shared Shelfbook club choice
NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER

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 wasnt dangerous, that we didnt 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Drawing on previously unpublished diaries, letters and interviews, The Radium Girls is an intimate narrative of an unforgettable true story.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.

Reviews

'Kate Moores new book will move, shock and anger you.' * The Big Issue *
This fascinating social history one that significantly reflectson the class and gender of those involved [is] CatherineCookson meets Mad Men . . . The importance of the brave andblighted dial-painters cannot be overstated. * Sunday Times *
Thrilling and carefully crafted. * Mail on Sunday *
Heartfelt. * Sunday Telegraph *
Kate Moore . . . writes with a sense of drama that carries onethrough the serpentine twists and turns of this tragic but ultimatelyuplifting story. * The Spectator *
Fascinating yet tragic. * The Sun *
Heartbreaking . . . what this book illustrates brilliantly is thatbattling for justice against big corporations isnt easy. * BBC Radio 4, Womans Hour *
A perfect blend of the historical, the scientific and the personal,this richly detailed book sheds a whole new light on this uniqueelement and the role it played in changing workers rights. TheRadium Girls makes it impossible for you to ignore these womensincredible stories, and proves why now, more than ever, wecant afford to ignore science, either. * Bustle *
Carefully researched, the work will stun readers with itsdescriptions of the glittering artisans who, oblivious to healthdangers, twirled camel-hair brushes to fine points using theirmouths. * Publishers Weekly *
Moores harrowing but humane story describes the struggle ofa few brave women who took their case to court in a fight forjustice that is still resonant today. * Saga *
Kate Moores The Radium Girls tells the story of a cohort ofwomen who made history by entering the workforce at thedawn of a new scientific era . . . Moore sheds new light on a darkchapter in American labour history; the radium girls. . . liveagain in her telling. -- Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Kate Moores gripping narrative about the betrayal of theradium girls gracefully told and exhaustively researched makes this a non-fiction classic. Moores compassion for hersubjects and her story-telling prowess . . . bring alive a shamefulera in Americas industrial history. -- Rinker Buck, author of The Oregon Trail

Author Bio

Kate Moore is a Sunday Times bestselling writer with more than a decade's experience in writing across varying genres, including memoir and biography and history. She was the director of the critically acclaimed play about The Radium Girls called 'These Shining Lives'.