This book tells a fascinating story about young women who worked in factories making luminous dials by hand painting the faces with radium. If this doesn't sound like a good idea to you, your instincts are right on target. It wasn't. The resulting radium poisoning caused horrendous symptoms, pain, and illness among the employees. The companies involved were the personification of the "big evil empire" and essentially did everything they could to avoid taking responsibility for the situation these impoverished, sick women found themselves in.

Personally, I really enjoyed Kate Moore's authorial voice, but the editing of this book left a lot to be desired. The storytelling, while engaging, is very repetitive. We learn many snippets about a lot of women. The book is divided into thirds, and it is in the final third that I believe Ms. Moore really finds her mojo as she focuses on one woman and her family and the onerous trial undertaken in an attempt to obtain justice if not financial remuneration.

I have patience for a lot of detail, especially in non-fiction. It slows the pace, but it is also paints a thorough picture. There were a lot of ways this topic could have been approached, and if it were my book, I'd have taken a different approach, but the story itself is so scary and fascinating that I still found myself drawn in. ( )

Such an interesting tale. I felt the author was overly dramatic about the radium companies. Yes, they were horrible, but many companies in a similar situation are similarly prone to denial and cover up. ( )

A heartbreaking story of the young girls that worked with radium during the 1920's and 1930's. They were never told how dangerous it was while being trained to paint the dials with a paintbrush that was pointed by being put into their mouths. The pain, disfigurement and deaths of these young women was horrific. Their bravery in making sure the truth was brought out was inspiring. ( )

The novel by Kate Moore is an amazing and difficult read. She chronicles the duplicity and cover up of companies who hired young girls to paint the faces of watches with radium so they would glow in the dark - and covered up the illnesses that occurred as a result of radium poisoning. The graphic depictions of these girls bodies as they deteriorate as a result of ingested radium is troubling indeed. However, there is triumph and courage in these pages as well - those who put conscience ahead of personal gain, the families who stayed with them and nursed them, the bonds of friendship between these women, and their final triumphs is very sobering and uplifting. I highly recommend this book to readers. ( )

The story was interesting and important but wow this was so much longer than it needed to be. ( )