My First Time: Dawn Raffel

The First Time I Dug Up History
I had already published four books (three fiction, one memoir) when I dove into a historical project and found myself in over my head. And while I generally hate the word “project” when referring to a book, writing The Strange Case of Dr. Couney was indeed a project.

I thought I was researching a period novel. Then I stumbled onto the true story of a mysterious showman who saved thousands of premature babies in the early 20th Century—by placing them in incubato...