The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women

During World War I, hundreds of young women painted watch and clock dials with radium in factories. Their employers told them the luminous material was safe, yet the women became covered in glowing dust and later began to fall ill. This nonfiction account follows the poisoning that led to a major American scandal and a fight for workers’ rights. Their experience shaped medical, legal, and labor-relations history; photographs and back matter accompany the narrative.