According to this narrative’s editor’s note, French began covering this story 24 hours after the baby had died. He ended up focusing the narrative on a labor and delivery nurse. We were interested in this good choice of focus. On the one hand, it makes sense for reasons of POV: The mother of the baby was unconscious for much of the story. But it also works because French found a heroic character in the nurse, a woman with "oceanic calm" who hand-sews gowns for newborns who have died. She’s a wonderful protagonist.

Read “A Gown for Lindsay Rose,” by Thomas French

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