The Radium Girls

The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women

De: Kate Moore

Narrado por: Angela Brazil

The year was 1917. As a war raged across the world, young American women flocked to work, painting watches, clocks, and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous - the girls themselves shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in the dust from the paint. They were the radium girls.

As the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious and crippling illnesses. The very thing that had made them feel alive - their work - was in fact slowly killing them: They had been poisoned by the radium paint. Yet their employers denied all responsibility. And so, in the face of unimaginable suffering - in the face of death - these courageous women refused to accept their fate quietly and instead became determined to fight for justice.

Drawing on previously unpublished sources - including diaries, letters, and court transcripts as well as original interviews with the women's relatives - The Radium Girls is an intimate narrative account of an unforgettable true story. It is the powerful tale of a group of ordinary women from the Roaring 20s who themselves learned how to roar.

©2017 Kate Moore (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Those poor women didn’t deserve this

A gripping story of the poor women in the dial painting industry. I gritted my teeth through the horrible, robotic, almost condescending narrative style for a couple of hours. But I could not bear it any longer, I had to stop.

Those dial painting women faced many indignities in life and the horrible narration of this book is just one more.

loved the narrator!!!

loved it, such an interesting story! it inspired me to do research to learn more!

Curious date???

The projected publication of this book is Jan 1, 2200........ if that’s true, who’s the person who infiltrated the future to get this book and bring it to the 2020 date? I have noticed a large number of ‘future publications,’ on offer.
As to the book itself, it is so terribly sad, with the long list of destroyed bodies and lives. Industries, and the press, and ‘knowledgeable sources,’ kept reassuring the public that radium was completely safe. ... and then, women started dying, after terrible prolonged suffering.
This is the story of the women who became the first victims of radium poisoning.
So terribly sad, and so preventable...
As to the narrator, I think she must get credit for clarity, but multi-syllabic words are normally not pronounced with “ev-er-y sin-gle syl-la-ble au-da-ble.” Over pronunciation can be as much of a problem as slurring over syllables. Her accent is acceptable, but she needs a little more finesse with her multisyllabic words.
Sad, sad, story; all too frequent as to the type of problem that still occurs in today’s manufacturing and business culture.
Long awaited and not a disappointment.

Interesting read

The book was very interesting. To see what those girls went through, all the pain and suffering was intense. Especially seeing as I grew up in Waterbury, CT where there was the Waterbury Clock Company that used radium to paint the dials and I had no idea this happened in my hometown. The only issue that I had was that the narrator’s voice felt computer generated and it made it hard to listen to. But other than that it was a good read.

Awesome book, but narration is terrible

The story was awesome , but the narration worse than terrible. If I could have given the narration less than a one star I would have. Tragic story that is very well done. Sad part of our history .Hard to believe how work place in the past were not safe. I wish Audible would redo this book with a different narrator .

Fascinating read

This is a very interesting true story. The author captures the unsung spirit and determination of young women who were lied to and abused by their greedy employers. These women led the fight to change safety in the workplace. This is a story that is not well known, but should be.

important, moving story - awful narration

this book covers the human story of the women who worked with radium in the 1920s. it is very well written, moves at a good pace and brings to light an overlooked segment of our history. I gave the story 5 well-deserved Stars. the narration was bizzarre. it sounded like it was being read by a robot, with odd pauses and sudden burst of speed. I would recommend the book simply on the basis of the content and if the narrator is too annoying you can always return it since Audible has fantastic return policies.

Very good book!

I loved this story! A perfect mix of science, the girls lives and legal battles. I did not have issues with this narrator as some of the others have. Although, I did notice the occasional swallowing. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy learning about historical events and people.

great book if you can stand the reader

It is a haunting tale well told, of a time before child labor laws, before we harnased the atom, and before workers had rights in American industry. Sadly, the machine gun voice with it's extreme thespian highs, lows, and tremalo almost ruined it for me. The story kept me interested though and for that I am grateful.

Interesting piece of unknown history

This book about a group of healthy, vivacious and nice small town women who painted the luminous marks on aviation and watch dials, while all the time being exposed to radioactive radium. This story is about their lives their jobs and the resulting friendships and romances.

Over time, though, many of these women became ill, dying a painful, disfiguring and slow death. Doctors couldn’t help them because they’d never seen these types of health issues.

Their employer covers up the dangers of handling the radium, telling the women it’s healthy and safe. Fighting lawsuits for years.

The story is well told and brings the women’s stories to life.

Worth a credit!