Dawn Davis grew up in Barrington, Illinois, a small town northwest of Chicago. After spending two years at New York University she moved to Toronto, Ontario where she completed her education at York University and the University of Toronto. She worked for many years as a teacher, married and raised two daughters, Rachel and Elizabeth. She became a Canadian citizen in 2001.
Currently she studies jazz and classical piano, reads, writes comedy sketches, works in her garden, and devotes herself to the arbitrary whims of her Maine Coon kitten, Charlie.
During the writing of The Tree of Life Dawn learned “The Kinderszenen” by Robert Schumann so she could better understand what her characters were feeling when they played these evocative songs.