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The Radium Woman
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
181 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1939
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 13, 2024
Eleanor Doorly's 1939 Marie Curie biography The Radium Woman (and adapted for children from the 1937 biography by Curie's daughter Ève) is in my humble opinion most suitable for readers from about the age of ten to fourteen or so, with The Radium Woman not only being awarded the fourth annual Carnegie Medal as the best children's book by a British subject but that The Radium Woman is also one of the very few non fiction books to have been thus honoured.
And indeed, even though as an older adult reader (who tends to like her biographies concise, unexaggerated and also kind of removed, impersonal and with not too much featured textual emotionality) I do rather tend to find Eleanor Doorly's narrational voice for The Radium Woman somewhat too individually involved and often even a trifle annoyingly verbally ecstatic, well to be honest and to be entirely truthful, if I had actually encountered The Radium Woman as a child reader (when I was the age of the intended audience), not only would I have found being personally and emotionally drawn into Marie Curie's life and times by Eleanor Doorly utterly charming and delightful, I also would have simply and proverbially lapped up all of the meticulous and minute details of everyday life which as an adult reader I am at times finding a bit tedious and not all that important and necessary for and to me.
Therefore and yes, my so-called inner child totally and absolutely does textually adore every little bit about The Radium Woman (Marie Curie's early life in Poland as Manya Sklodovski, with her then studying and excelling in science in both Warsaw and later in Paris, up to when in France, Manya, now calling herself Marie, falls in love and marries Pierre Curie, and with him discovers Radium, is awarded the Nobel Prize and also changes science and opportunities for careers in science for especially women). And I thus also absolutely understand and appreciate The Radium Woman being awarded the 1939 Carnegie Medal, even though I certainly do not really find The Radium Woman equally readable as an adult and often stylistically quite a bit dragging. And while I certainly do warmly recommend The Radium Woman as a very decently interesting and engaging biography for younger readers (for the above mentioned ten to fourteen year olds), personally speaking, I also and definitely do think that Eleanor Doorly's text and in particular how she is depicting Marie Curie's life stylistics wise as not necessarily being universally suitable for both children and adult readers alike, that The Radium Woman in to and for me works much better for a younger audience, and that adults, or at least that some adults, that those of us who do not like overly involved and meticulously detailed biographical depictions could very well find The Radium Woman rather a bit of a reading chore.
And indeed, even though as an older adult reader (who tends to like her biographies concise, unexaggerated and also kind of removed, impersonal and with not too much featured textual emotionality) I do rather tend to find Eleanor Doorly's narrational voice for The Radium Woman somewhat too individually involved and often even a trifle annoyingly verbally ecstatic, well to be honest and to be entirely truthful, if I had actually encountered The Radium Woman as a child reader (when I was the age of the intended audience), not only would I have found being personally and emotionally drawn into Marie Curie's life and times by Eleanor Doorly utterly charming and delightful, I also would have simply and proverbially lapped up all of the meticulous and minute details of everyday life which as an adult reader I am at times finding a bit tedious and not all that important and necessary for and to me.
Therefore and yes, my so-called inner child totally and absolutely does textually adore every little bit about The Radium Woman (Marie Curie's early life in Poland as Manya Sklodovski, with her then studying and excelling in science in both Warsaw and later in Paris, up to when in France, Manya, now calling herself Marie, falls in love and marries Pierre Curie, and with him discovers Radium, is awarded the Nobel Prize and also changes science and opportunities for careers in science for especially women). And I thus also absolutely understand and appreciate The Radium Woman being awarded the 1939 Carnegie Medal, even though I certainly do not really find The Radium Woman equally readable as an adult and often stylistically quite a bit dragging. And while I certainly do warmly recommend The Radium Woman as a very decently interesting and engaging biography for younger readers (for the above mentioned ten to fourteen year olds), personally speaking, I also and definitely do think that Eleanor Doorly's text and in particular how she is depicting Marie Curie's life stylistics wise as not necessarily being universally suitable for both children and adult readers alike, that The Radium Woman in to and for me works much better for a younger audience, and that adults, or at least that some adults, that those of us who do not like overly involved and meticulously detailed biographical depictions could very well find The Radium Woman rather a bit of a reading chore.
February 20, 2016
The Radium Woman. Eleanor Doorly. 1939 @CILIPCKG #Carnegie Medal A simple, engaging & clear hagiography of St. Marie Curie's life & work.
Reviewed @reallyReads
Reviewed @reallyReads
October 8, 2016
Definitely a step up from the old kids' biographies from my childhood although this one shares that familiar tendency toward dramatization. There is some lovely, if old-fashioned writing. The edition I have has exquisite woodcut illustrations by Robert Gibbings.
October 3, 2023
read along with Mabry
I knew very little about Marie Curie before reading this book. But I'm so glad to know a little about her now. She was a treasure of a woman. Besides her discovery of radium, there are a few thing I want to remember about her. First, she loved her husband deeply. They seem to have had a very good relationship. Next, how remarkable were her efforts during WW1, inventing mobile x-ray cars and traveling around to help doctors diagnose and treat wounded soldiers. So many lives saved. Lastly, how she and her husband refused to patent her methods of producing Radium. They didn't believe radium ought to enrich their lives financially. There's a beautiful story of Marie telling a newspaper woman from America that if she could have anything in the world it would be 1 gram of radium to go on with her research. So this newspaper woman started the Marie Curie Radium Fund to buy her a gram of radium. This newspaper woman rallied American women to donate enough money to buy her that gram. (Worth 30,000 pounds in that day.) There's just something so poignantly noble and ironic about that, the Marie Curie Radium Fund. And in the end it was radium and all her exposure to this beloved element that took her life.
I knew very little about Marie Curie before reading this book. But I'm so glad to know a little about her now. She was a treasure of a woman. Besides her discovery of radium, there are a few thing I want to remember about her. First, she loved her husband deeply. They seem to have had a very good relationship. Next, how remarkable were her efforts during WW1, inventing mobile x-ray cars and traveling around to help doctors diagnose and treat wounded soldiers. So many lives saved. Lastly, how she and her husband refused to patent her methods of producing Radium. They didn't believe radium ought to enrich their lives financially. There's a beautiful story of Marie telling a newspaper woman from America that if she could have anything in the world it would be 1 gram of radium to go on with her research. So this newspaper woman started the Marie Curie Radium Fund to buy her a gram of radium. This newspaper woman rallied American women to donate enough money to buy her that gram. (Worth 30,000 pounds in that day.) There's just something so poignantly noble and ironic about that, the Marie Curie Radium Fund. And in the end it was radium and all her exposure to this beloved element that took her life.
September 22, 2023
An inspiring biography of Marie Curie focusing on all the hardships she has gone through and all the hard work she has done for science and her family. Being the first female Scientist and recipient of 2 Nobel prizes makes her stand out.
November 6, 2022
Lovely and succinct while still full of details. Unfortunately, the copy I read had multiple transcription errors that got in the way, especially in the last few chapters.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews