May 2017

There is a true pleasure that comes from reading narrative nonfiction when a writer brings her subject brilliantly to life. Kate Moore does this with THE RADIUM GIRLS: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, and the subtitle’s pun is intended. Kate explores the lives of the women who worked in the radium-dial factories where they labored painting the dials of watches. These jobs were much-coveted as these ladies were seen as craftswomen, and their skill was highly paid, at a time when good-paying jobs for women were scarce.

The girls were taught to “lip, dip, paint.” They would “lip” the brush to a point, “dip” it in the radium material, and “paint” the dial. But each time they did this, they were ingesting radium. They literally glowed in the dark as they walked down the street. Their lips and clothes were illuminated by radium particles. As time went on, they became ill, and while the industry knew this work carried dire health consequences, it was hidden and mired in corruption. You had girls in their 20s and 30s dying, and no one would take responsibility.

Kate tells her story through the voices of these young women, and they are powerful and sad at the same time.

I highly recommend it, and for book groups looking for narrative nonfiction for discussion, this would be a wonderful title for you to explore. Conversation can spur off into many directions --- science, women’s issues, corruption in business, and a look into how labor laws have changed how we do business today.