I very much enjoyed this book and I feel that it succeeded in its purpose that was to give a voice to the tragic victims of radium poisoning and to tell their story. Kate Moore made this point in her extended interview with the cancer researcher Anne McTiernan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS6X...sX1zotiuQwsBxj
Kate felt that while there have been some excellent studies of the radium dial scandal the voices of the victims had somehow been lost. Thus her book puts an emphasis on those tragic young women and she did considerable research with their families as well as having access to the memoir of Katherine Schaub written as her too short life drew to a close. This is why Kate was able to so vividly describe Katherine’s first encounters with the Radium Dial Company.
Thus, the novelistic method is based heavily upon verifiable facts. There is also considerable inferential material. But these inferences flow from the known facts of the case. I, personally, see nothing wrong in this. The crucial lesson of the terrible events is that the greed and lies of the radium dial companies dehumanised the girls, violated their rights, and caused horrible suffering not only to the women but to those who loved them. In so doing these company officials dehumanised themselves as well.
I listened to many significant passages of the book through the Audible production narrated by Kate Moore herself. Moore does a wonderful job. She conveys not only commitment to the story of the radium girls but also a passionate anger at their treatment. For the most part the prose used by the author is competent but her reading takes it to a new level.
Finally, Kate Moore discusses the newspaper frenzy surrounding the case. If you are interested you can find interesting scans of some of that material here:
http://www.lgrossman.com/pics/radium...20dial200.html