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24th out of 70 books
—
63 voters
The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady
This lively, intricately plotted, laugh-out-loud funny, and surprisingly touching family drama combines the wit of Carl Hiaasen with the southern charm of Jill McCorkle.
Seventy-seven-year-old Marylou Ahearn is going to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs come hell or high water. In 1953, he gave her a radioactive cocktail without her consent as part of a secret government study that...more
Seventy-seven-year-old Marylou Ahearn is going to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs come hell or high water. In 1953, he gave her a radioactive cocktail without her consent as part of a secret government study that...more
Hardcover, 334 pages
Published
February 8th 2011
by Doubleday
(first published January 28th 2011)
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Ann and Michael from the Books on the Nighstand podcast told me to read this book. I'm glad I do what they say because I loved it.
Who would've guessed that a novel about an elderly victim of unethical medical experiments who sets out to kill the now doddering doctor who administered the radioactive cocktails fifty years ago would be funny. But it is!
Stuckey-French's characters are sympathetically drawn. They're quirky, but never so quirky that they feel unreal. The writing is quite lively and t...more
Who would've guessed that a novel about an elderly victim of unethical medical experiments who sets out to kill the now doddering doctor who administered the radioactive cocktails fifty years ago would be funny. But it is!
Stuckey-French's characters are sympathetically drawn. They're quirky, but never so quirky that they feel unreal. The writing is quite lively and t...more
A, shall we say, "eccentric" woman named Marylou who was dosed with a radioactive substance while pregnant in the 1950s is bent on revenge at the doctor who dosed her (the substance was, at the time, supposedly beneficial). Her child died of cancer 8 years later, and Marylou blames the radiation, and plans to kill the doctor once a chance article in a newspaper decades later alerts her to his whereabouts. She moves to Tallahassee and befriends his whole family in order to get close to him, who t...more
This is a black comedy about a 77year old lady who was given a radioactive drug when she was pregnant (in the 50's) as a part of an experimental study. Naturally she had not given her permission, nor was she even asked or told about it till years later. Meanwhile she suffered various ailments and her beloved daughter died of cancer at a young age. Eventually the government came clean and she (and others) received monetary compensation, but she never forgave or forgot the doctor who headed the pr...more
Absolutely horrible book. I was looking for something fun but decent at the library, and the back matter sounded promising, so I decided to check it out. I'm one of those people that has to finish a book once I start it, and this book made me hate that about myself for the first time in a long time. It started out okay...premise was a little silly, but it's summer reading, so I gave in and kept going. I'm not sure if Stuckey-French was pushing a deadline or what, but as I was reading, I noticed...more
Nov 03, 2011
Christine
marked it as to-read
Seventy-seven-year-old Marylou Ahearn is going to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs come hell or high water. In 1953, he gave her a radioactive cocktail without her consent as part of a secret government study that had horrible consequences.
Marylou has been plotting her revenge for fifty years. When she accidentally discovers his whereabouts in Florida, her plans finally snap into action. She high tails it to hot and humid Tallahassee, moves in down the block from where a now senile Spriggs lives with hi...more
Marylou has been plotting her revenge for fifty years. When she accidentally discovers his whereabouts in Florida, her plans finally snap into action. She high tails it to hot and humid Tallahassee, moves in down the block from where a now senile Spriggs lives with hi...more
Ooooook--what to say, what to say..? I never tell what the book is about much because it takes up too much rambling space along with the opinion bit and has already been done a dozen times...sooo how I felt about this book is what you get, if ya want it...
This was a very easy read. I was entertained enough to read right through it...no problemo. The idea of an old lady out for revenge in the way of murdering an even older man who had done her wrong so long ago was great....just lovely...fun. At...more
This was a very easy read. I was entertained enough to read right through it...no problemo. The idea of an old lady out for revenge in the way of murdering an even older man who had done her wrong so long ago was great....just lovely...fun. At...more
Though I always love quirky books, I tend to shy away from them. That is what happened to me with this book at first. I kept seeing it on bookshelves and library carts and while I was attracted to the cover I never picked it up. By the seventh time I saw it, I felt that the book was following me and that I had to read it. I am so glad that I did because it is the perfect combination of quirky characters, compassionate story, and deep drama. I found myself laughing out loud on one page only to tu...more
Marylou Ahearn is bent on revenge after locating the doctor who, in 1953, headed a radiation experiment that eventually took her eight-year-old daughter’s life. With plans to murder Dr. Wilson Spriggs, Marylou moves to Florida only to find out that Wilson now has Alzheimer’s disease and no recollection of her. Marylou’s plans of murder are foiled, for she cannot kill a man who has no idea what pain he’s caused her. Instead, she resolves to reap her revenge in the form of misery and tear Spriggs’...more
Humorous, quirky, offbeat all describe the unusual characters that inhabit The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady by Elizabeth Stuckey-French.
There is seventy-seven-year-old Marylou Ahearn is determined to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs to avenge his involvement in the medical experiment that cost her her only child Helen. Spriggs had fed pregnant women - Marylou included - radioactive cocktails in a scientific experiment that bore horrific results. When Marylou finally tracks Dr Spriggs down, she moves t...more
There is seventy-seven-year-old Marylou Ahearn is determined to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs to avenge his involvement in the medical experiment that cost her her only child Helen. Spriggs had fed pregnant women - Marylou included - radioactive cocktails in a scientific experiment that bore horrific results. When Marylou finally tracks Dr Spriggs down, she moves t...more
In another of those marvelous anecdotes that becomes unburied and astounds us all it turns out that between 1945 and 1949, 800+ pregnant women were told by doctors at Vanderbilt University Hospital that the radioactive iron they were given was a vitamin that would enhance their health and that of their unborn children. The experiment was to see if the children would be protected from the radioactivity by the placenta. Of course they were not protected. In The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady auth...more
In 1958, a 50-foot woman attacked movie theaters in a rampage of "revenge and desire." The science-fiction camp classic has been revered and reviled in equal doses over the years--audiences either love the tale of Nancy Archer, hard-drinking socialite who turns into a giantess and goes after her husband and his mistress, or they put Attack of the 50 Foot Woman on par with Plan 9 From Outer Space. Either way, Nancy Archer has served as a prototype for cautionary feminist tales for the last 50 yea...more
I took a chance on The Revenge of Radioactive Lady, it's not my usual read, but the cover and synopsis caught my eye and decided to give it a try. I was rewarded by a quirky story with neurotic, yet realistic, characters that was compulsively readable. Each chapter is told by a different person, Marylou/Nance and everyone in the Witherspoon family.
Though not as humorous as led to believe by the various quotes on the cover, the most amusing of it happened in the first chapter and nearer the end,...more
Though not as humorous as led to believe by the various quotes on the cover, the most amusing of it happened in the first chapter and nearer the end,...more
Marylou Ahearn wants revenge.
Badly.
When she finds the target of her hate living peacefully in Florida she sets up housekeeping under a different name and starts to integrate herself into the family. Only there is one problem - her tormentor has Alzheimer's and doesn't remember a thing.
Or does he?
This book was a total hoot! Despite the dark topics involved in the plot it is written with a wry sense of humor that makes all of the murder/kidnapping/secret government testing seem justifiable. The c...more
Badly.
When she finds the target of her hate living peacefully in Florida she sets up housekeeping under a different name and starts to integrate herself into the family. Only there is one problem - her tormentor has Alzheimer's and doesn't remember a thing.
Or does he?
This book was a total hoot! Despite the dark topics involved in the plot it is written with a wry sense of humor that makes all of the murder/kidnapping/secret government testing seem justifiable. The c...more
Review originally from BriMeetsBooks.com
I picked up this one for a few reasons:
I was in an indie bookstore - the cute Downtown Books and Purl in Apalachicola, Florida and it was on one of their tables.
The character had my last name - Ahearn. And spelled the same way!
The book took place in Tallahassee, Florida, where I went to college.
The plot involves a 77 year old woman plotting to kill a doctor.
The cover piqued my retro-loving heart.
How could I not read this book? It's not YA but it just looke...more
I picked up this one for a few reasons:
I was in an indie bookstore - the cute Downtown Books and Purl in Apalachicola, Florida and it was on one of their tables.
The character had my last name - Ahearn. And spelled the same way!
The book took place in Tallahassee, Florida, where I went to college.
The plot involves a 77 year old woman plotting to kill a doctor.
The cover piqued my retro-loving heart.
How could I not read this book? It's not YA but it just looke...more
The book sleeve says this is a "dark comedy wrapped inside a wacky family drama" and I have to say that about sums it up. The main character Marylou is 77 years old and seeking revenge on the doctor who gave her a radioactive cocktail when she was pregnant in 1953, without her consent, as part of a secret government study. Her daughter died of cancer when she was five years old as a result. She decides to find the doctor and kill him. The book then veers into the lives of the doctor's family, as...more
Really this was a 3.5 for me.
Not going to rehash synopsis, so read it first. Good? Ok.
I was hoping for some black comedy, and it was that way a goodly bit, but there were smatterings of despair. The lives of those she wants to mess with are already pretty messed up and depressing -- except for Otis. I loved him. He was awesome! But I had to read this since 1. The premise is hilarious and 2. It is in Tallahassee (like meeeeeeeee!) And I'm glad I did, and not just for the very apt description Vic...more
Not going to rehash synopsis, so read it first. Good? Ok.
I was hoping for some black comedy, and it was that way a goodly bit, but there were smatterings of despair. The lives of those she wants to mess with are already pretty messed up and depressing -- except for Otis. I loved him. He was awesome! But I had to read this since 1. The premise is hilarious and 2. It is in Tallahassee (like meeeeeeeee!) And I'm glad I did, and not just for the very apt description Vic...more
1 like · like · see review
I read about this book in my Sunday paper and it looked interesting. Then I saw it at Half Priced Books. Score! I was all ready to sit down and read it and then I made the mistake of reading the Goodreads reviews and I got a little scared. There was a nice bell curve of ratings as would be expected. But the ones who didn't like it wrote some of the most vicious reviews I think I've read. Especially someone named Chris who reviewed it a year ago. According to him you must never write nor read abo...more
This is a fun book with serious undertones. Marylou Ahern is in her 70s and still bitter about the loss of her 8 year old daughter fifty years ago. She had unwittingly been part of a cold-war era medical experiment where pregnant women were given a radioactive solution to drink (but not told what it was). Her daughter died of bone cancer, her marriage failed, and she spent the next half century seething. In an internet search she finds that the doctor that gave her the solution is living with hi...more
Utterly irresistible title, not to mention the cover art or the story synopsis. I generally enjoy a good romp with any oddball, dysfunctional family so I expected to enjoy this thoroughly. I did gobble it right up but I am still deciding how much I actually liked it. To be sure, there are some great characters. You gotta love a 77 year old women bent on revenge against the doctor who headed up the research project that fed her a radioactive cocktail during pregnancy ... except that when he turns...more
It’s 1953 and Marylou Ahearn is pregnant with her first child. She is unknowingly given a radioactive cocktail by her doctor as an experiment. Eight years later, Helen, her first born, dies of cancer. Marylou, who has discovered her doctor’s deception, blames the cocktail and decides to take revenge by killing him. She is now 77 years old. She discovers where he currently resides, pulls up stakes from Memphis and moves to the Tallahassee area to be near him and his family – the easiest way to ac...more
The premise of "The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady" is an 80 year old woman obsessed with exacting revenge on the doctor who gave her radioactive cocktails at a free clinic she attended while pregnant in the 1950's. She had a daughter who died at age 8. She finds the doctor living in Tallahassee with his daughter and her family, who each have their own issues to deal with. Wilson, the doctor, is in the early stages of dementia and doesn't seems to remember Marylou or the situation.
This book ha...more
This book ha...more
I am not sure how Elizabeth Stuckey-French manages to craft a funny novel out of the systematic radioactive poisoning of pregnant women by the US government in the 1950s, autistic teenagers, a marriage falling apart, an old man with border-line dementia, and a preacher with a prediliction for adolescents, but, remarkably, she does. And I am usually someone who likes my fiction heart-breaking rather than side-splitting, but I really enjoyed this book, racing through chapters to see what would hap...more
4 likes · like · see review
This novel was very entertaining. The story is told from various characters view point - different family members and from the view point of the main character - the radioactive lady. She wants to kill the grandfather of this family because he was the lead doctor of a study that she was involved in was a young woman in which she unknowingly ingested radioactive substance while pregnant. Her daughter then died at the age of 8 from cancer. However, Marylou discovers that killing an old man who als...more
The story of Marylou is not all fiction. Between 1944 and 1974, more than 20 medical experiments charted the effects of radiation on pregnant women, including one at Vanderbilt University, where poor, white pregnant women were given cocktails of radioactive iron. One would suppose that a novel inspired by such dark subject matter would be solemn or angst-ridden; instead, The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady turns out to be “the best kind of page-turner—one with heart” (Boston Globe). A few review...more
Nancy Archer is the giant woman, made huge by contact with a space alien, in the campy old movie, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. So when Marylou Ahearn moves to Tallahassee for the sole purpose of killing Dr. Wilson Spriggs, she adopts that character's name. And she is a Radioactive Lady, thanks to a radioactive cocktail given to her without her knowledge as part of Dr. Spriggs's study. She, like the other women in this 1950s study, was pregnant. And her child died of cancer. Revenge, in 2006, is...more
The Corrections on a bong hit, The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady is a heartfelt story in which unexpected consequences rise from hastily pondered actions.
Marylou Aherns lost her child to a cancer due to her unwitting participation in a medical project helmed by one Dr Wilson Spriggs. Many years later she discovers where he is currently residing and hatches a plan to murder him in a coldblooded act of revenge. She also decides to wreak havoc in his family, to inflict some modicum of the pain s...more
Marylou Aherns lost her child to a cancer due to her unwitting participation in a medical project helmed by one Dr Wilson Spriggs. Many years later she discovers where he is currently residing and hatches a plan to murder him in a coldblooded act of revenge. She also decides to wreak havoc in his family, to inflict some modicum of the pain s...more
Reading the book jacket quotes, I expected to be thoroughly entertained by this book. Unfortunately, I was never that excited while reading the book. I only read the whole thing to see if it ever lived up to the reviews. For me, it didn't. It had a lot of promise, but just didn't deliver. I regret finishing this book.
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If you're in the middle of it, know that it doesn't get any better and there are definitely better ways to spend your time. If...more
--------------POSSIBLE SPOILER BELOW------------------
If you're in the middle of it, know that it doesn't get any better and there are definitely better ways to spend your time. If...more
Marylou Ahern wants to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs. Fifty years ago he was in charge of a secret government study that exposed pregnant women to radiation without their knowledge or consent. Marylou thought she was taking vitamins when in fact she was getting much more. The consequences were devastating. Her daughter died of cancer and she and her husband divorced.
Now Marylou has found Dr. Wilson and he is living with his family in Florida. She changed her name to Nance and moveed to Florida intendi...more
Now Marylou has found Dr. Wilson and he is living with his family in Florida. She changed her name to Nance and moveed to Florida intendi...more
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.
I loved both the premise and the cover of this book. Marylou Ahearn is ready to finally get her revenge on Dr. Wilson Spriggs after 50 years. She assumes an identity (straight out of a Hollywood B movie) and moves into Dr. Spriggs' Florida neighborhood to put her plan into action. In the 1950's, when Marylou was a young woman pregnant with her first child, she was given a radioactive cocktail as part of a government experiment on radiati...more
I loved both the premise and the cover of this book. Marylou Ahearn is ready to finally get her revenge on Dr. Wilson Spriggs after 50 years. She assumes an identity (straight out of a Hollywood B movie) and moves into Dr. Spriggs' Florida neighborhood to put her plan into action. In the 1950's, when Marylou was a young woman pregnant with her first child, she was given a radioactive cocktail as part of a government experiment on radiati...more
Quirky little book that I picked up a galley copy of for $1 at a fundraiser based on the cover alone (if you can't see it, it's a 1950's-looking housewife smiling and holding up a clean dish in front of her with one hand and a giant knife behind her back with the other). I wasn't sure what I was expecting - science-fiction, maybe? - but instead it's about an elderly woman who decides to track down and murder the doctor who performed radiation experiments on her forty years earlier. Hilarious, ri...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Ladies' Home Jour...: Let's Talk About: The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady - February 2012 | 1 | 2 | Mar 14, 2012 02:05pm | |
| Gwinnett County P...: Revenge of the Radioactive Lady | 1 | 5 | Mar 06, 2012 06:42pm |
Elizabeth Stuckey-French is the author of a novel, Mermaids on the Moon, a collection of short stories, The First Paper Girl in Red Oak Iowa, and, with Janet Burroway, Writing Fiction: A Guide to the Narrative Craft. Her new novel, The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady, is forthcoming from Doubleday in spring 2011. Her short stories have appeared in The Normal School, Narrative Magazine, The Atlanti...more
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“Six months ago when she first came up with the idea to kill Wilson, back when she was living in Memphis, she'd started going to church again. Since she was spending so much time thinking about sinister things, the least she could do, she reasoned, was to think about God and his love twice a week at church so that she wouldn't become a total sociopath. And rather than kill other people who were stand-ins for the person she really wanted to kill, like serial killers did, she'd be kind and generous to others and hone in on the one who deserved to die. And her plan had worked extremely well. Since she'd started planning to kill Wilson, and then decided to destroy his family instead, she felt no animosity toward anyone but him. Almost none at all!”
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