Katherine Ashenburg is an award-winning non-fiction author whose work spans subjects from travel to mourning customs and architecture. She is known for her deep curiosity about human practices and history, often approached from an unexpected angle. Ashenburg explores society's ambivalent relationship with various aspects of life and death, infusing her writing with spirited analysis. Her prose is skillful and engaging, offering readers fresh perspectives on both familiar and lesser-known phenomena.
Exploring the complexities of unexpected relationships, this novel follows a journalist who finds herself in an unusual bond with her ex-husband's wife. Blending humor and emotional depth, it captures the nuances of love, friendship, and the entangled lives of modern women. With a style reminiscent of Nora Ephron, the story offers a fresh perspective on family dynamics and personal growth, making it both relatable and entertaining.
'I return to Paris in five days. Stop washing.' So wrote Napoleon to Josephine in an age when body odour was considered an aphrodisiac. In stark contrast, the Romans used to bath for hours each day. Ashenburg's investigation of history's ambivalence towards personal hygiene takes her through plague-ridden streets, hospitals and battlefields. From the bizarre prescriptions of doctors to the eccentricities of famous bathers, she presents us with all the twists and turns that have led us to our own, arbitrary notion of 'clean'.