Radium Halos, A Novel about the Radium Dial Painters

By Shelley Stout

General Fiction

Language: English Restricted (R)

0.0

0 ratings

No. of pages

132

Views

Buy Online:

Overview Ratings & Reviews

Radium Halos is historical fiction based on the true events of theRadium Girls: a group of female factory workers who, in the early1920s, contracted radiation poisoning from painting luminous watch and clockdials with radium paint. Our narrator is Helen Waterman, a 65-year-oldmental patient who worked at the factory when she was 16. She tells usher story through flashbacks, slowly revealing her past, the loved onesshe’s lost, and the dangerous secrets she’s kept all these years.

The Story Behind This Book

In the early 20th century, radium was considered a miracle cure-all. Doctors prescribed it for many ailments, and patients believed it was safe. In the 1920s, young women factory workers in Ottawa, IL, painted the numbers on luminous watch and clock dials with paint made from radium. They were taught to dip their brush tips into the paint, and then for a sharp point, place it between their lips. Scores of women died from this practice. This is their story.

Media Mentions

The Times (Ottawa, IL)

Praise and Reviews

Batt Humphreys, former senior producer for CBS News and author of Dead Weight:

"Shelley Stout debuts with a novel of characters as compelling as the true story it covers. Like a good reporter, she follows the facts. In this case she not only uncovers a story little known, but more importantly she reveals in her characters, the humanity of a tragic tale."