At work, Margaret is the well-regarded curator of fashion for a big city museum.

At home, she is the mother of lively, teenaged twin girls, the spouse of a successful mystery writer, and a daughter still grieving the recent death of her beloved father. As she prepares to launch a career-defining exhibition on the haute couture of legendary French designer Dior, she faces fierce internal politics from her peers alongside unsettling questions from a younger generation.

To make matters more worrying, items in the Dior collection mysteriously begin to disappear. Meanwhile, Margaret must deal with revelations after her father's death — secrets that force her to confront her family's long-suppressed Jewish heritage. Struggles at work and home entwine in the unlikely figure of an elderly collector of couture — one who may have a long-ago connection to Dior himself.

With her trademark wit, keen observation of human foibles, deep love of textiles and craft, and ear for spicy dialogue, Katherine Ashenburg deftly creates a page-turning tale.

(From Knopf Canada)

Margaret's New Look is available in May 2025.

Katherine Ashenburg is a writer and journalist who has worked for the Globe and Mail and the CBC. She is also the author of the nonfiction books Going to Town, The Mourner's Dance, The Dirt on Clean and the novels Sofie & Cecilia and Her Turn.