Episode 19: Deborah Harkness Does Her Best Historical Work

Drafting the Past

In this episode, host Kate Carpenter spoke with historian and bestselling novelist Dr. Deborah Harkness. Deb's first novel, A Discovery of Witches, debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list. She has written three more books in the All Souls Series, including the most recent, Time’s Convert, which was published in 2018. Before that, Deb was trained and worked as a historian of science. She is the author of two academic books. Deb also teaches European history and the history of science to undergraduates and graduate students at the University of Southern California. We had a great time talking about the relationship between her work as a historian and as a novelist, the research that goes into her books, and why she believes her fantasy novels are her best historic work.