When radium was first discovered, no one really knew for sure what it did. Soon, however, companies latched onto its lucrative potential when it became known that radium mixed in paint had a glow-in-the-dark quality. Hundreds of girls were employed to paint watch dials and instrument panels with this magical, luminescent paint.
The girls took no precautions. They were instructed to lick the paint brushes to bring the bristles to a sharp point in order to do their jobs effectively and to prevent waste. It wasn't long before the women started falling sick with mysterious symptoms that no doctor could correctly diagnose. The symptoms were extremely painful and gruesome, and often irreversible.
Yet when their employers were told of this, they dismissed the girls' illnesses as nothing more than fear-mongering. The companies concealed data on the effects of radium and lied with impunity to the girls and the public. What followed was a long and arduous journey for the girls to bring recognition and justice to their plight.
What makes The Radium Girls so fascinating is that Moore brings these girls to life with her meticulously-researched details. She shows that they aren't just tragic figures but also deeply sympathetic souls. They lost so much of their life to this terrible poison and it was made even more unbearable by the companies' callous reactions to their sufferings. The accounts are vivid and gut-wrenching, often leaving me in tears.
I'm glad Moore chose to tell this necessary story, so that the memories of these girls who gave so much to science and to their fight for worker's rights will live on.
Readaroo Rating: 5 stars!
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