Published: July 03, 2009
Words: 76,754 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781452401089

Short description

Radium Halos is historical fiction based on the true events of the Radium Girls, female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning in the 1920s from painting luminous watch and clock dials with radium paint. "Shelley Stout reveals in her characters, the humanity of a tragic tale." Batt Humphreys, former senior producer for CBS News and author of Dead Weight

Extended description

Radium Halos is historical fiction based on the true events of the Radium Dial Painters, a group of female factory workers who, in the early 1920s, contracted radiation poisoning from painting luminous watch dials with radium paint. Our narrator is Helen Waterman, a 65-year-old mental patient who worked at the factory when she was 16. She tells us her story through flashbacks, slowly revealing her past, the loved ones she's lost, and the dangerous secrets she's kept all these years. Includes a Foreword by Leonard Grossman, son of the attorney for the Radium Dial painters.

Tags

historical fiction, womens fiction, historical, new fiction, radium girls, 1920s, radiation, radium dial painters, based on real events

Available ebook reading formats

Single purchase gains access to all formats. How to download ebooks to e-reading devices and apps.

Format	Full Book	Sample First 25%
Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser)	Buy	View sample
Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps)	Buy	Download sample
Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others)	Buy	Download sample
PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing)	Buy	No sample available
RTF (readable on most word processors)	Buy	No sample available
LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub)	Buy	Download sample

Videos

Radium Halos
Trailer for Radium Halos

Reviews

Log-in to write a Review   Log-in to add a Video Review

Review by: Steve Pribish on Feb. 24, 2013 :
Whenever I see a book with all five stars reviews I get very suspicious. Usually it is the result of friends and relatives stacking the reviews. Radium Halos is the exception. It is a great story with believable characters, a mystery, corporate villains, and enough warmth to tug at he heart of a seventy year-old man. Shelly Stout has a way with words and her descriptions of the lives of young women in the days before so-called liberation, rings true. I highly recommend it.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Holly Weiss on Nov. 23, 2011 :
I truly enjoyed Radium Halos. More importantly, I commend Shelley Stout for opening the secret of the women who used radioactive paint to create luminous clock and watch dials at the Radium Dial Factory. It was historical fiction with a punch—an important story to be told.

Radium Halos is a remarkable fictional account of Helen, a North Carolina sixteen-year-old who worked in the Radium Dial Company in Illinois during the 1920s. Helen at age sixty-five suffers from an undefined mental problem, probably stemming from her proximity to and ingestion of the radioactive paint during her time at the factory.

Stout's use of a colloquial dialect for her naïve, educationally deficient, but observant main character, Helen, is consistent and easily understood. This task is not easily written but masterfully handled here. Helen's voice is distinct and ingenuous as the book alternates between her youth in the 1920s and her recalling of the events of her past with amazing clarity as a sixty-five-year-old woman. I felt Helen sitting right beside me telling her story and I was sympathetic to her losses. Helen's sister, Violet, although dead for most of the novel, looms large in the reader's mind, as a powerful central character. Pearl, the resentful niece, is so well presented this reader constantly worried how she might negatively impact Helen's life. The other characters are all cast uniquely, but Helen's compelling voice will stay with me a long time.

What are the consequences of our actions? The author expertly explores this dilemma by interweaving a dual story. On the one hand, the young factory workers play what they perceive as an innocent prank causing a tragedy which they conspire to keep secret. On the other hand, the factory for which they work willfully exploits their workers, disregarding their well being. The author delicately balances how the factory workers dealt for years with ravaging physical effects caused by the paint, without being able to point fingers at the factory because they have pledged not to implicate themselves by revealing their association with it. My interest was perked concerning the legal ramifications the factory encountered years down the road and I would have liked to read more about that aspect.

I often include a quote I find provocative in my reviews. Helen considers what life has handed her. "But I really don't know which was worse. A lifetime missing a child you almost had, or a lifetime of wishing you could have younguns, but they never come."

Stout's expert descriptive technique makes me wish I could see this book in a movie version. I'd love to read more by this author.

Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont
http://amzn.to/vHPLkk
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Review by: Holly Weiss on Nov. 23, 2011 :
I truly enjoyed Radium Halos. More importantly, I commend Shelley Stout for opening the secret of the women who used radioactive paint to create luminous clock and watch dials at the Radium Dial Factory. It was historical fiction with a punch—an important story to be told.

Radium Halos is a remarkable fictional account of Helen, a North Carolina sixteen-year-old who worked in the Radium Dial Company in Illinois during the 1920s. Helen at age sixty-five suffers from an undefined mental problem, probably stemming from her proximity to and ingestion of the radioactive paint during her time at the factory.

Stout's use of a colloquial dialect for her naïve, educationally deficient, but observant main character, Helen, is consistent and easily understood. This task is not easily written but masterfully handled here. Helen's voice is distinct and ingenuous as the book alternates between her youth in the 1920s and her recalling of the events of her past with amazing clarity as a sixty-five-year-old woman. I felt Helen sitting right beside me telling her story and I was sympathetic to her losses. Helen's sister, Violet, although dead for most of the novel, looms large in the reader's mind, as a powerful central character. Pearl, the resentful niece, is so well presented this reader constantly worried how she might negatively impact Helen's life. The other characters are all cast uniquely, but Helen's compelling voice will stay with me a long time.

What are the consequences of our actions? The author expertly explores this dilemma by interweaving a dual story. On the one hand, the young factory workers play what they perceive as an innocent prank causing a tragedy which they conspire to keep secret. On the other hand, the factory for which they work willfully exploits their workers, disregarding their well being. The author delicately balances how the factory workers dealt for years with ravaging physical effects caused by the paint, without being able to point fingers at the factory because they have pledged not to implicate themselves by revealing their association with it. My interest was perked concerning the legal ramifications the factory encountered years down the road and I would have liked to read more about that aspect.

I often include a quote I find provocative in my reviews. Helen considers what life has handed her. "But I really don't know which was worse. A lifetime missing a child you almost had, or a lifetime of wishing you could have younguns, but they never come."

Stout's expert descriptive technique makes me wish I could see this book in a movie version. I'd love to read more by this author.

Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont
http://amzn.to/vHPLkk
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Review by: GraceKrispy on Sep. 12, 2010 :
What a satisfying read! With cleverly placed flashbacks interspersed in with the present-day happenings, we learn all about Helen and her life, in her own voice. I was engaged in the story from beginning to end, and the writing was perfectly suited to reflect Helen's viewpoint. This story makes me want to learn more about the radium dial painters.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Vicki Tyley on Aug. 11, 2010 : (no rating)
Powerful and skilful use of fiction to tell the story of the women who contracted radiation poisoning from painting luminous watch dials with radium paint in the 1920s. The story is from the point-of-view of Helen, one of the workers, and in her language.

The strength of the story comes from Stout’s ability to pull the reader back to that time body and soul. I saw, heard, smelled, tasted and felt everything Helen did. I was there.

Highly recommended.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: ficbot on Aug. 07, 2010 :
Great book! The main character had a really unique voice and I enjoyed the 'mystery' and the historical detail. The book felt polished and professional. I would definitely recommend it.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Jessica G. on Feb. 28, 2010 :
Really enjoyable book. I hadn't heard of the Radium Dial painters until I read this, and the author does a wonderful job weaving fact and fiction.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Reason for report:
— Select a reason — Book is or contains spam Book infringes copyright Same content is published elsewhere with different author (for ex., by private-label rights) Duplicate Incomplete work (such as sample or serial) Should be marked adults-only Category is inappropriate Poorly formatted Nudity or other inappropriate content on cover Nudity or other inappropriate visual content in book Inappropriate erotica content Cover image is improper Content is inappropriate Other violation of Terms of Service Other reason not shown above.

Additional details: