Davis was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, on July 15, 1947.[4] She is the daughter of Robert Gorham Davis, a critic and professor of English, and Hope Hale Davis, a short-story writer, teacher, and memoirist.[5] Davis initially "studied music—first piano, then violin—which was her first love."[6] On becoming a writer, Davis has said, "I was probably always headed to being a writer, even though that wasn't my first love. I guess I must have always wanted to write in some part of me or I wouldn't have done it."[7] She attended high school at The Putney School, Class of 1965. She studied at Barnard College, and at that time she mostly wrote poetry.[6]
In 1974 Davis married Paul Auster, with whom she had a son named Daniel (1977-2022).[5][8] Auster and Davis later divorced; Davis is now married to the artist Alan Cote,[9] with whom she has another son, Theo Cote. She is a professor of creative writing at the University at Albany, SUNY,[9] and was a Lillian Vernon Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at New York University in 2012.[10]
