Luminous: The Story of a Radium Girl by Samantha Wilcoxson

I bought this book yesterday and went to bed in the early hours so I have a bit of a sore head today! Scroll down to read my review.


Luminous: The Story of a Radium Girl
By Samantha Wilcoxson


Publication Date: 2nd June 2020
Publisher: Independently published
Page Length: 319 Pages
Genre: Biographical Fiction / Historical Fiction


A story of female friendship and strength set against corporate corruption.

Catherine's life is set on an unexpected course when she accepts a job at Radium Dial. She soon finds out that the excellent pay is no recompense for the evil secret that lurks in the magical glow-in-the-dark paint. Catherine Donohoe takes on the might of a big corporation and becomes an early pioneer of social justice in the era between world wars.

Emotive and inspiring - this book will touch you like no other as you witness the devastating impact of radium poisoning on young women's lives.

It’s too late for me, but maybe it will help some of the others.
~ Catherine Wolfe Donohue

Five Stars

Never has a book moved me so much as Luminous: The Story of a Radium Girl by Samantha Wilcoxson. The story, based on a true story, is about Catherine Donohue and her fight for justice.

Catherine's excitement at getting a job at Radium Dial is understandable. She gets on well with the other ladies, and the pay is good. Her future looks promising. But unbeknownst to Catherine and the other ladies who worked at Radium, the paint they were using to draw faces onto watches carefully was poisoning them. What's more, their employers were recommending them to "point' their brushes to make a fine tip, which meant they ingested huge amounts of radium.

The tragedy of this story is that their employers, even when concerns are raised, tell their employers that the paint they are using to safe and there is no such thing as Radium poisoning, only there is, and now Catherine is faced with the fight of her life. Not only is her body breaking down after being poisoned by radium but she is determined to see justice, and despite her weakened state, she goes head-to-head with her employers.

Catherine is a truly courageous woman who goes through so much only for her employers to deny any liability. But despite her ill health, she is determined that no other woman would face the same situation that she found herself in. 

This story is profoundly moving and it brought me to tears on more than one occasion - sometimes these were tears of empathy and other times tears of anger towards the employers who tried to cover up the truth.

This book, although a very emotional read, is an important one, and I hope Catherine and her fellow Radium girls are never forgotten by history.


Samantha Wilcoxson


Samantha Wilcoxson is an author of emotive biographical fiction and strives to help readers connect with history's unsung heroes. She also writes nonfiction for Pen & Sword History. Samantha loves sharing trips to historic places with her family and spending time by the lake with a glass of wine. Her most recent work is Women of the American Revolution, which explores the lives of 18th century women, and she is currently working on a biography of James Alexander Hamilton.

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