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Helen Hollick's Reviews > Luminous: The Story of a Radium Girl
Luminous: The Story of a Radium Girl
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by
I had not heard of this story until this novel came to my attention. After I'd finished reading it, I looked up Catherine Donohue and the other 'radium girls' and the fact that one is able to see astonishing and deeply upsetting images really brings it home that this is a true story. I can imagine the author of the novel wondering why it hadn't been told in fiction form before now, when it is a story crying out to be told, and Ms Wilcoxson is to be commended for correcting that omission.
It must have been a difficult problem though: just how to fictionalise it? And where this book succeeds is in conveying the bitter contrast between the normal life Catherine had and the living hell that it became. When I read it, I had no idea of the outcome and because of that, whilst there is a sense of foreboding (we all know not to put radium in our mouths so reading those early sections one felt like shouting out the danger), the depth of the damage done was shocking. All the way through the later chapters I had a sense of anger and sadness at the life lost, the life Catherine could have, should have, had.
The early chapters show vividly the kind of life lived by young people in the prohibition era and I especially loved the little scene outside the pharmacy in which one of Catherine's friends managed to procure a little illicit alcohol. The sense of carefree lives, full of hope and expectation, and of shy romantic encounters were all beautifully done, which only added to the poignancy of the later chapters.
The physical deterioration is portrayed unflinchingly but, as it comes from Catherine's point of view it is not a grim spectacle, because we are not merely gawping, we are discovering what it must have felt like to suffer these horrific symptoms. Catherine has to remind herself, and the reader, that she was still a very young woman.
It is clear that the author has researched every tiny detail of this tragic episode of history, not only with the court papers but even detailing the occasion when the court hearing had to move location to accommodate the physical limitations of the victim.
The use of quotations, either from the victims, the deniers, or the court judgements, at the beginning of each chapter was a good device, serving as a potent reminder that this was real, that it happened, and what a scandal it was.
The entire novel is told from Catherine's point of view and I might have preferred to read parts of it from someone else's, and would have welcomed a little more characterisation of the other girls, to get a better sense of their different personalities as well as the challenges they faced. It's clear that there was a lot of local opposition initially to the legal action from those whose incomes depended on the radium company and perhaps a little more detail of that might have added another layer to the story.
Overall though, a brave and accomplished piece of fiction. I can't say it's an enjoyable read, because of the subject matter, but it is a book that should be read and one which achieves its aim of deeply humanising the story.
The above was Reviewed for Discovering Diamonds (now closed for reviews)
My additional review:
I read Luminous when it was originally submitted to Discovering Diamonds, and was interested to read it again, these few years later, for Coffee and Thorn. It is an emotional - and an appalling read, appalling in the context of the subject, that is!
That this actually happened to the Radium Girls is horrifying, but munitions girls, miners, and so many others in a similar line of work where the dangers were ignored, for women and men, were equally as dreadful. And I assume, in many cases in many countries, still are.
That Catherine Donohue was a real person who endured the consequences of her job, her livelihood, and her strength and determination to expose the truth is even more poignant.
Samantha Wilcoxson's research is excellent, her storytelling equally as good. She brings the utter horror of the suffering and endurance of Catherine and her co-workers to very vivid life. This is not an easy read because of the emotions it stirs - compassion for the girls as their health declined, resentment, even hatred, for those who were equally as determined to keep this enormous outrage quiet.
Being non-religious I did find some of the passages which dwelt on Catherine's need for prayer and spiritual support to be a little slow, but on the other hand the tale is set in the 1920s when Faith and God played a very important role in the majority of people in Christian-based societies through their daily lives. It would have been odd not to have included this side of Catherine's life and suffering.
I agree with the #DDRevs reviewer that I would have liked more from some of the other characters, but there is only so much an author can - and should - do, and Luminous is quite adequately powerful and thought-provoking as it is.
I recommend that you read it.
Helen Hollick
It must have been a difficult problem though: just how to fictionalise it? And where this book succeeds is in conveying the bitter contrast between the normal life Catherine had and the living hell that it became. When I read it, I had no idea of the outcome and because of that, whilst there is a sense of foreboding (we all know not to put radium in our mouths so reading those early sections one felt like shouting out the danger), the depth of the damage done was shocking. All the way through the later chapters I had a sense of anger and sadness at the life lost, the life Catherine could have, should have, had.
The early chapters show vividly the kind of life lived by young people in the prohibition era and I especially loved the little scene outside the pharmacy in which one of Catherine's friends managed to procure a little illicit alcohol. The sense of carefree lives, full of hope and expectation, and of shy romantic encounters were all beautifully done, which only added to the poignancy of the later chapters.
The physical deterioration is portrayed unflinchingly but, as it comes from Catherine's point of view it is not a grim spectacle, because we are not merely gawping, we are discovering what it must have felt like to suffer these horrific symptoms. Catherine has to remind herself, and the reader, that she was still a very young woman.
It is clear that the author has researched every tiny detail of this tragic episode of history, not only with the court papers but even detailing the occasion when the court hearing had to move location to accommodate the physical limitations of the victim.
The use of quotations, either from the victims, the deniers, or the court judgements, at the beginning of each chapter was a good device, serving as a potent reminder that this was real, that it happened, and what a scandal it was.
The entire novel is told from Catherine's point of view and I might have preferred to read parts of it from someone else's, and would have welcomed a little more characterisation of the other girls, to get a better sense of their different personalities as well as the challenges they faced. It's clear that there was a lot of local opposition initially to the legal action from those whose incomes depended on the radium company and perhaps a little more detail of that might have added another layer to the story.
Overall though, a brave and accomplished piece of fiction. I can't say it's an enjoyable read, because of the subject matter, but it is a book that should be read and one which achieves its aim of deeply humanising the story.
The above was Reviewed for Discovering Diamonds (now closed for reviews)
My additional review:
I read Luminous when it was originally submitted to Discovering Diamonds, and was interested to read it again, these few years later, for Coffee and Thorn. It is an emotional - and an appalling read, appalling in the context of the subject, that is!
That this actually happened to the Radium Girls is horrifying, but munitions girls, miners, and so many others in a similar line of work where the dangers were ignored, for women and men, were equally as dreadful. And I assume, in many cases in many countries, still are.
That Catherine Donohue was a real person who endured the consequences of her job, her livelihood, and her strength and determination to expose the truth is even more poignant.
Samantha Wilcoxson's research is excellent, her storytelling equally as good. She brings the utter horror of the suffering and endurance of Catherine and her co-workers to very vivid life. This is not an easy read because of the emotions it stirs - compassion for the girls as their health declined, resentment, even hatred, for those who were equally as determined to keep this enormous outrage quiet.
Being non-religious I did find some of the passages which dwelt on Catherine's need for prayer and spiritual support to be a little slow, but on the other hand the tale is set in the 1920s when Faith and God played a very important role in the majority of people in Christian-based societies through their daily lives. It would have been odd not to have included this side of Catherine's life and suffering.
I agree with the #DDRevs reviewer that I would have liked more from some of the other characters, but there is only so much an author can - and should - do, and Luminous is quite adequately powerful and thought-provoking as it is.
I recommend that you read it.
Helen Hollick
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
January 25, 2021
– Shelved
