Katherine Ashenburg is the author of three books and many magazine and newspaper articles. She has written for The New York Times, The Globe and Mail and Toronto Life, among other publications. Her books include The Mourner’s Dance: What We Do When People Die, and The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History, which was published in 12 countries and six languages. She has been a producer at CBC Radio and was The Globe and Mail‘s Arts and Books editor. In 2012, she won a Gold Medal at the National Magazine Awards for her article on old age. Sofie & Cecilia is her first novel. Photo by Joy von Tiedemann.