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A review by howlinglibraries
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
emotional
sad
medium-paced
5.0
What an incredible, heartbreaking read. I was almost completely unfamiliar with these terrible circumstances, and this was so eye-opening. I consider myself generally pessimistic regarding the government and big businesses, but I don't think I had ever properly recognized just how cruel humans can be when there's a paycheck involved.
Kate Moore did a brilliant job documenting these women's lives and the pains they went through, not only with their health issues and young deaths, but also with their legal battles and the ways they were constantly dismissed, berated, and abused by lawyers and radium businessmen. Moore managed to take a miserable, shocking tale and turn it into a celebration of how beautiful and strong these women were and how much we owe them today, regarding how their fights would go on to shape not only the radium industry, but also workplace health standards in general.
This is a book that I believe everyone should read, especially people living here in the US, and most of all, anyone who believes that big businesses have our best interests at heart. The Radium Girls is a book that's going to stick with me for a long time to come and is certainly a new favorite nonfiction title that I'll be recommending to anyone and everyone who hasn't picked it up yet.
Kate Moore did a brilliant job documenting these women's lives and the pains they went through, not only with their health issues and young deaths, but also with their legal battles and the ways they were constantly dismissed, berated, and abused by lawyers and radium businessmen. Moore managed to take a miserable, shocking tale and turn it into a celebration of how beautiful and strong these women were and how much we owe them today, regarding how their fights would go on to shape not only the radium industry, but also workplace health standards in general.
This is a book that I believe everyone should read, especially people living here in the US, and most of all, anyone who believes that big businesses have our best interests at heart. The Radium Girls is a book that's going to stick with me for a long time to come and is certainly a new favorite nonfiction title that I'll be recommending to anyone and everyone who hasn't picked it up yet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Misogyny, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death