New Leaf May 2018 Discussion • The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Well, mine wouldn't have met at least one of those criteria.

All I'm trying to say is that it's probably possible to phrase points in a manner that would pass muster! We don't have to shy entirely away from politics (or religion, or sex) if it's germane to a particular book.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

All I'm trying to say is that it's probably possible to phrase points in a manner that would pass muster! We don't have to shy entirely away from politics (or religion, or sex) if it's germane to a particular book.

True, and we managed in the old MR club to discuss The Golden Compass, after all.

[Catlady]

One of today's Kindle daily deals is a novel featuring the Radium Girls: Glow by Megan E. Bryant, for 99 cents.

When thrift-store aficionado Julie discovers a series of antique paintings with hidden glowing images that are only visible in the dark, she wants to learn more about the artist. In her search, she uncovers a century-old romance and the haunting true story of the Radium Girls, young women who used radioactive paint to make the world's first glow-in-the-dark products—and ultimately became radioactive themselves. As Julie's obsession with the paintings mounts, truths about the Radium Girls—and her own complicated relationships—are revealed. But will she uncover the truth about the luminous paintings before putting herself and everyone she loves at risk?

Editorial reviews:

"STARRED REVIEW! Alternating chapters follow Julie's quest and present decades-old love letters written by Lydia, a white radium factory worker, both slowly revealing the horrific story of young women who were exposed to radioactive paints. With this interleaved technique, Bryant brilliantly lures readers into an engaging mystery, a page-turner that begins beneath layers revealed in both paintings and chapters. A riveting story of ambitious and self-sufficient women, both in the present and past." —Kirkus Reviews starred review

"This fictionalized take on the Radium Girls is by turns suspenseful, macabre, and, at points, quite gory. Bryant doesn’t shy away from the true horrors that befell these women . . . . An eye-opening window into a troubling moment in history." —Booklist

"STARRED REVIEW! As each girl tells their story, the true events and stories of the real radium girls are brought to light. Bryant’s novel will surely spur readers to learn more about this dark part of history." —School Library Journal

[Dngrsone]

Dang. Missed it.

Ha! Found it at the library, though.

[JSWolf]

I found the pacing to be a bit off-putting. But it was good of the author to tell the girl's stories. The ending was very sad and it's a shame that corporations today do not always do what's right for their employees.

I felt for the girls when they were in pain and for the families who had to watch the suffering with nothing they could do to help.

Overall it was worth reading.

[BenG]

Tor.com's free ebook this month may be of interest to those who read this book: The Only Harmless Great Thing, a novella by Brooke Bolander.

In the early years of the 20th century, a group of female factory workers in Newark, New Jersey slowly died of radiation poisoning. Around the same time, an Indian elephant was deliberately put to death by electricity in Coney Island.

These are the facts.

Now these two tragedies are intertwined in a dark alternate history of rage, radioactivity, and injustice crying out to be righted. Prepare yourself for a wrenching journey that crosses eras, chronicling histories of cruelty both grand and petty in search of meaning and justice.

To get the book you need to sigh up for the monthly newsletter by Friday the 18th.
https://ebookclub.tor.com/indexfb.as...5-02e2bf0d9c23

[Bookworm_Girl]

Thanks, BenG! One of my favorite things about book clubs is the tangential reading that it sparks. This was one of my most memorable books that the NLBC has read. I just saw that Audible is offering a short biographical story of Marie Curie by Paula McLain (1 hr 15 min).

https://www.audible.com/pd/A-Mind-of...ook/B07NP9L44Y

About This Audible Original

From Paula McLain, the best-selling author of The Paris Wife and Love and Ruin, comes a breathtakingly intimate story of the brilliant, willful Marie Curie—a young woman in Paris on the verge of her greatest discovery yet: herself.

Marie Sklodowska, 25, is studying science at the Sorbonne—one of the only universities in the world that has begun to admit women. A thousand miles from her native Poland, with no money and the odds stacked against any woman daring to pursue a career in such a rigorous field, Marie throws herself into her studies. She’s certain that to succeed in a man’s world, she will have to go it alone.

Her meticulous plans get thrown slightly off-course when Marie attracts the attention of an accomplished physicist, himself on the precipice of greatness. Pierre Curie, famous for his work on symmetry, believes he has found in Marie an equal who shares his devotion to scientific discovery. He offers to help with her work, and soon begins to court her. But to Marie, men have always been an obstacle, love a distraction from her goals. She hasn’t come this far to let either stand in the way of her dreams—dreams Pierre insists they can share.

In A Mind of Her Own, McLain taps into the luminous mind and complex heart of a singular woman caught between order and chaos, science and love in the period just before the world would learn her name.