Weekly Reader: Luminous: The Story of a Radium Girl by Samantha Wilcoxson; Incredible Story of Amazing Group of Women Who Fought Management For Their Health and Safety

 

Weekly Reader: Luminous: The Story of a Radium Girl by Samantha Wilcoxson; Incredible Story of Amazing Group of Women Who Fought Management For Their Health and Safety

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: The story of the Radium Girls is a tragic one. From 1917-1920, female factory workers were diagnosed with cancer caused by working unprotected with radium paint to paint numbers and dials on watches. They were told to lick the brushes to wet them and dip them into the paint. While the factory owners and management were warned about the potential dangers of radium poisoning, they kept this information from the workers. 

Five women sued the Radium Dial Company in Ottawa, Illinois. The suit was settled out of court in 1938 even though sadly, many of the women did not live to see the results. However, the case created long term change in ensuring employee safety by creating regulations in which employees are informed of every potential risk and are properly equipped and attired for the workplace to maintain their health and safety.

Samantha Wilcoxson personalizes the moving story with her historical fiction novel, Luminous The Story of a Radium Girl. She takes the perspective of one of the women, Catherine Wolfe Donohue. The book begins with her as a naive girl excited to work at Radium Dial because of its impact in the community. She can financially support the aunt and uncle who raised her. It's hard and tedious work but she has a talent for putting those tiny numbers on the face. She befriends many of her coworkers and her employer, Mr. Reed seems like a nice guy. She even starts being courted by Tom Donohue. Then her coworkers start becoming mysteriously illl. One is losing her teeth. Another gets severe headaches. Catherine herself starts getting severe pain in her hip. Then their health gets worse and they realize the source of their problem: Radium Dial.

It's very easy to look back on these women with judgment, to think why didn't they look for another job? If they were so sick why didn't they notice sooner? What responsibility did management have to protect their health? 

Telling the story from the point of view of one of the women answers those questions. Wilcoxson writes a firm character study about a woman who always strives to do the right thing to be a good obedient religious person, but finds sometimes that's not enough in a world with employers who care about the bottom line and getting their products finished and don't care who has to suffer and die for it. A trait that unfortunately is still present in many business owners and managers today.

Catherine is written as the type of person who would rather none of this happened at all. She is someone who is content to find any sort of work, pick up a decent paycheck to take home to her aunt and uncle, hang out with friends, maybe get married and have children. She is a guileless woman who wants to do right by her family, community, and God.

 If they tell Catherine that the radium is safe, she believes them. After all, she doesn't personally know enough about radium to challenge them. Mr. Reed gives off a trustworthy vibe. He doesn't chase the female employees and even shares a laugh with them. She gets along with her fellow coworkers, developing a sisterhood even before they become sick.

Catherine is also in a pretty desperate financial situation. She isn't exactly swimming with money and during her time at Radium Dial, the Great Depression kicks in so she can't afford to quit a job no matter how much she is becoming aware that she and her colleagues are literally dying. Her aunt and uncle are getting older and she wants to care for them as well as they took care of her. Further compounding the situation is that Ottawa is a company town with Radium Dial. Even if she tried to get another job, Radium Dial will put enough of a black mark that she can't be hired anywhere. 

According to the book, Radium Dial's management was told of the potential risks of radium and did not warn the workers of even the possibility of illness. Even when workers in New Jersey succumbed to illness, they said that it wouldn't happen to them because they used a different type of paint. When one of the workers is hospitalized, they wish her well and then fire her. When the employees go to the local doctors, it becomes clear that Radium Dial's managers forced them to lie about their diagnosis and say that no they don't have cancer. Every action they take is in the name of profit and it is easy to see why the courts favor the workers.

Many of the situations are incredibly graphic showing the reality of the cancers eating away at these poor women's bodies. One has her arm amputated and another has to suffer as her teeth keep falling out. In one chapter, Catherine is eating food as pieces of her jaw bone break off. Her legs become so weakened that Tom has to carry her everywhere she goes.

Ironically, as Catherine's body weakens, her spirit strengthens. She takes the lead in getting the lawsuit going. She grants interviews allowing her picture to be taken to show Readers exactly what these women are going through. Tom helps her and the other women get a doctor who is willing to tell them the truth about their health and an attorney who will take their case. 

Catherine's Catholic faith also emboldens her. She tries to go to church as long as she can walk and struggles to kneel. Even when she is unable to move, the priest arrives to give her communion and other rituals. Catherine credits her faith to get her through this painful tumultuous time and giving her the power to use her voice and speak for herself and the other women.

Luminous is the type of book where an ordinary person finds their inner courage to speak out against inhumane decisions that put profit over people. It took women like Catherine Wolfe Donohue and the others to make people see the results of these decisions and improve the lives of future workers even if they didn't live to see that improvement.

Weekly Reader: Victorian Adventure Stories by Jon Stephen Jones; Nostalgic Adventurous Fun Set In The Victorian Era

 

Weekly Reader: Victorian Adventure Stories by Jon Stephen Jones; Nostalgic Adventurous Fun Set In The Victorian Era

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Question: Are you a fan of the old 19th century Adventure Novels written by Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson, and H.G. Wells? Do you like the mysteries featuring characters like Sherlock Holmes, A.J. Raffles, Arsene Lupin, and Fantomas? Do you dream in Steampunk? Does your preferred style of reading end in the 20th century before Realism and psychological motivation became the thing? Do you read just to embrace a good adventurous escape? Then look no further than Jon Stephen Jones' Victorian Adventure Stories. 

This anthology is exactly what it says on the tin and in some ways that's what makes it good. The stories are predictable, but exciting. They are entertaining and fun. When a Reader is under stress sometimes it's good to kick back with an old fashioned adventure yarn and Jones provides that.

The best stories are:

"Henchman"

Most of the stories stand on their own but there are some plots that carry over into multiple stories. "Henchman" is the first of three stories that feature The Medics, a ruthless gang that rules London's Underworld and are headed by the mysterious Dreaded Doctor, an unidentified figure who has had some medical training which they put to good use when taking apart an enemy or a stool pigeon (and might be that other frightening unidentified Victorian medico, Jack the Ripper.).

The trouble starts when John Felmersham, a Medic operative, has decided that he has had enough of gang life and wants to resign. Unfortunately, the Medics don't exactly take rejection well. As John struggles to escape from his former employers, they use various intimidation tactics such as death threats on windows and stalkers following him from train station to train station.

The story has its share of tension since John never knows who is in the Medics, so much of the suspense lies in the fact that anyone that he meets could be a potential threat. One of the more interesting twists is the revelation of the Dreaded Doctor's true identity. While in the context of the story, the twist is obvious, the implications and back story behind this character and how they became the Dreaded Doctor are rather fascinating to imagine. The Dreaded Doctor takes an older story and gives it a more modern outlook.

"A Hebridean Adventure"

If "Henchman" is a tribute to the crime stories for Arthur Conan Doyle, then this story is a tribute to Doyle's other well known work, The Lost World with a lot of Jules Verne thrown in. It is also the other plot that carries over into multiple stories in this anthology.

Professor James Bedford accompanies his colleague, Giles, and several others to a mysterious island near the Outer Hebrides.  Of course the island is filled with prehistoric creatures that scare the daylights out of our plucky scientists and adventurers.

"A Hebridean Adventure" is one of the definite tributes to the old adventure novels in writing style and characterization. The band of scientists are the typical characters that would be found in such an adventure of the time period. There is the cynical first person narrator, the enthusiastic science expert who cares more about exploration than the cost of human life, the assistants that provide their expertise to the expedition, and the working class muscle. We even have the bratty kid whose involvement causes more harm than good (and in this case whose actions carry over into another story, "The Great Exhibit." I told you the Outer Hebrides Island carries over into other stories.) Characterization takes a back side to action and adventure just like in the real life books and stories of the era.

In fact the only real modern touch in this story is that the dinosaurs have feathers, keeping with modern paleontological research that has shown that dinosaurs may have had them as potential evidence of their subsequent evolution into birds. 

The reason that this one is one of my favorites is because it is such a pastiche of the writing of the era, that it could have been written then. While "Henchman" takes centuries old ideas and gives them unique modern twists, "A Hebridean Adventure" is firmly stuck in the past and that is part of the antiquated fun.

 

"The Magic Circle"

You know the fairy stories where some poor mortal gets invited to share a drink or a dance with the Fair Folk only to return from the party to find that centuries have passed? "The Magic Circle" takes these old fairy legends and transports them to the Victorian Era. Geoffrey and Edward, two drunken Victorian gents, take a spooky ride on the London Underground. No one else is on the train nor is anyone driving. Things get weirder when they encounter a very short man who politely offers them a drink.

Jones clearly has a lot of fun visualizing a fairy land that has gone Industrial like its human counterparts. The legendary creatures have their own station in which they dub the "real London Underground," a station where they lure unwary travelers. The drinks are now offered in pubs and stands rather than in a court setting. The Little Man that speaks to Geoffrey and Edward could be mistaken for the average London train goer of the day. It's an interesting twist when most fantasies write Faeries as still living in an agrarian Medieval in appearance society, that some author modernize them.. Jones writes the magical creatures as capable of modernizing their culture and using human's styles and inventions against them. 

The other interesting aspect to this story is that it's a tribute to the London Underground System and was meant to correspond with the 150th anniversary. Jones reveals how much the system has changed over the centuries and how it's still a part of London daily life.

"The Box"

Let's see we have criminal gangs, dinosaurs, and fairies. Why not a story that pays tribute to the con artist and Gentleman Thief, that charming lying conniving bane of law enforcement's existence as popularized by characters such as Maurice Leblanc's Arsene Lupin and E.W. Hornung's A.J. Raffles (the latter of whom was created by none other than Doyle's brother in law)? "The Box" is a clever game of one-upship as the various characters seek to outdo and outsmart each other.

Gordon is upset because his box containing a precious treasure is missing. He recruits various people including Bill, the station attendant, Arthur, a gentleman, and Marcus and Wayne, a pair of rough Cockney men go on the search for the box. Each one hopes to hoard the treasure for himself or at least for a financial reward.

The story is brilliant as the characters attempt to outdo each other and find the box. Bill and Co's seemingly altruistic desire to help Gordon is definitely put aside for financial gain. 

However the thieves are themselves outsmarted when Gordon reveals himself to be much smarter and more cunning than they are. Two plot twists come into play revealing a clear winner in this battle of wits.

"Next of Kin"

Who doesn't love a good ghost story? The Victorians certainly did as evidenced by works like A Christmas Carol, The Woman in White, and many short stories such as the ones that I reviewed in the anthology Women's Weird.

Terrence storms into the home of his friend, John terrified. He has been haunted by a poltergeist. Concerned for his friend's health and sanity, John goes to Terrence's house to confront the ghost. An apparition threatens to frighten Terrence to death.

John tries various means to get rid of the ghost from engaging in friendly conversation, finding out why it's still on Earth, to physically fighting him. As a last resort, John has to call in a relief player: another ghost with a familiar tie to the duo.

The resolution is sweet compared to the creepy actions previously that shows that even death can't stop true friendship and loyalty.

"To Stay or Not To Tay"

This story mixes fact with fiction by using a real life tragedy as a backdrop for the fictional happenings. The Tay Bridge Disaster happened on December 28, 1879 during a violent storm. The first Tay Rail Bridge collapsed as a train passed over it, killing all aboard.

This disaster is graphically described as a married couple take a fateful ride on the train to flee for their lives.

"To Stay or Not To Tay" calls back in many ways to the first story, "Henchman." Once again we find someone escaping via train from the dastardly Medics and their leader, the Dreaded Doctor. (Unfortunately, even though we now know the identity of the Doc, they don't make a personal appearance in this story and are only name dropped a couple of times. It's rather disappointing since in the first story, the Doctor made a very effective and brilliant antagonist.) 

This time married couple, Lionel and Anne Spadwick are the unfortunate targets for an umm unscheduled surgery after Lionel steals from the gang.

While the story is similar to "Henchman" in the increased paranoia that they are being followed, the biggest issues aren't from the Medics themselves but from the elements and faulty construction. This story shows that no matter how people act, there will always be events that are completely out of their control. Sometimes, Fate doesn't care what you have done or are planning to do when it has other ideas.

Despite the gravitas of Jones' writing in depicting the disaster and the enormous loss of life, there is a clever line that actually draws on some of the other stories suggesting that all of the stories in the anthology are tied together.

Sometimes you want a book that is deep in thought and analysis. Sometimes you want a book that is pure escapist adventure. Victorian Adventure Stories is the latter and that's what makes it fun.