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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
informative
sad
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
The Radium Girls by Kate Moore is a window into a World War 1 Industrial America and features the story of women who served as clock and watch dial painters for the U.S. Radium Corporation (USRC). As a dial painter, these women would be paid high salaries to use Radium paint to paint numbers on clocks and watches so that they would glow at night. This book describes the illnesses and eventual demise of the young girls who worked at USRC and their fight for justice.
I was flabbergasted at how negligent the company was in regard to its safety standards when they had known FOR YEARS that Radium had negative effects on the health of the dial painters. All I can say is, JUSTICE FOR MOLLY MAGIA. The pain and suffering she experienced alone gave me a knot in my throat. I simply could not believe that they said her death was a result of Syphilis. Even after death, the company's intention was clear; not only did USRC not care about harming these women for profit, they wished to discredit them even after their painful death. I was already a hater of big-business before and now I am seething.
When I listened to this book, my jaw dropped so many times. I could be in the grocery store and you would hear me gasp at how crazy this story is. The end had me tearing up because of how much these women had gone through. The fight for justice literally killed them and yet they persisted, even from beyond the grave. We owe so much to these incredible women for so many of our occupational safety standards today. Suffering for the sake of profit is never okay.
The disability narrative was strong throughout this book and I was almost brought to tears by how much these women had to endure to support their families. I am utterly disgusted by all of the men in this story who worked to discredit these women in a myriad of ways. Aside from the trauma experienced by their illnesses, I cannot even begin to imagine the emotional toll this took on all of them.
The best way to read this book is on audiobook because there is a lot of content and it is pretty long. The narrator was wonderful and she gave each of the girls their each unique voice. I can also tell that the author respects these women so greatly that she worked hard to represent their story, their narrative, their actions. It takes so much to stand up for what you believe in and they could not have done it without the support of their community of dial painters and the few lawyers and doctors that tried to help them.
I was flabbergasted at how negligent the company was in regard to its safety standards
When I listened to this book, my jaw dropped so many times. I could be in the grocery store and you would hear me gasp at how crazy this story is. The end had me tearing up because of how much these women had gone through. The fight for justice literally killed them and yet they persisted, even from beyond the grave. We owe so much to these incredible women for so many of our occupational safety standards today. Suffering for the sake of profit is never okay.
The disability narrative was strong throughout this book and I was almost brought to tears by how much these women had to endure to support their families. I am utterly disgusted by all of the men in this story who worked to discredit these women in a myriad of ways. Aside from the trauma experienced by their illnesses, I cannot even begin to imagine the emotional toll this took on all of them.
The best way to read this book is on audiobook because there is a lot of content and it is pretty long. The narrator was wonderful and she gave each of the girls their each unique voice. I can also tell that the author respects these women so greatly that she worked hard to represent their story, their narrative, their actions. It takes so much to stand up for what you believe in and they could not have done it without the support of their community of dial painters and the few lawyers and doctors that tried to help them.
informative
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
dark
informative
I listened to this on audible and enjoyed the very sad story of these poor young women whose lives were cut short by the negligence of the company they worked for. I enjoyed learning about these women and the history of what happened to them, but I honestly don’t know if I would have finished it if I would have read it rather than done the audio book version. There is a lot I mean a lot of historical detail where it almost is like textbook reading all important in properly informing the reading just a bit hard to read through. Overall enjoyed this piece
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
This was a book club read. I am still pretty horrified about what happened to the women who worked with radium early in the 1900s. It is so hard to believe that with all the unusual illness and terrible suffering these women went through that it went on so long.
I did not know much about radium, and knew nothing about the radium girls before reading this book. I was not ready for the intense descriptions of their illnesses and the author beautifully brought these women to life. She showed who they really were other than just victims of work-induced illness. I love the approach she used; her extensive work tracking down records and speaking to family members, trawling through court documents and journals the women kept is astounding. This was a labor of love and respect for these women. There was also the task of making science and medicine understandably by the average reader. This book was masterfully written and an important caveat for modern day workers. We have so many more protections in the workplace now, but I could see this happening again. It’s a struggle between the almighty dollar and the strong desire to deny that things are wrong.
While this book can be quite depressing, it also offers hope and examples of what happens when the human spirit has a stronger will than the physical body. Really interesting nonfiction read!
I did not know much about radium, and knew nothing about the radium girls before reading this book. I was not ready for the intense descriptions of their illnesses and the author beautifully brought these women to life. She showed who they really were other than just victims of work-induced illness. I love the approach she used; her extensive work tracking down records and speaking to family members, trawling through court documents and journals the women kept is astounding. This was a labor of love and respect for these women. There was also the task of making science and medicine understandably by the average reader. This book was masterfully written and an important caveat for modern day workers. We have so many more protections in the workplace now, but I could see this happening again. It’s a struggle between the almighty dollar and the strong desire to deny that things are wrong.
While this book can be quite depressing, it also offers hope and examples of what happens when the human spirit has a stronger will than the physical body. Really interesting nonfiction read!