凯瑟琳·奥弗林出生于1970年，在英国伯明翰长大，在家里六个小孩中排行小幺，父母以经营糖果店为生。凯瑟琳曾经当过记者、网站编辑、邮递员，还在多个购物中心打过工。凯瑟琳并没有从小立志要成为一名作家，她只是把自己的真实情感付诸笔下，以自己成长的经历以及在唱片公司打工的际遇为线索，写下了其首部小说《那些逝去的》（What Was Lost, 2007）。该小说以一个生活在上世纪80年代中期的失踪小女孩的热情与乐观向上的态度，深刻揭露了现代人生活的无奈与空虚。从当初被出版社冷落到如今获得多项重要文学奖的提名，小说终于在2008年的柯斯达图书奖（Costa Book Awards）上获得了金奖，凯瑟琳也获得了当年英国Galaxy文学大奖年度新人的称号。
2010年11月，英国总领事馆文化教育处举办了“英国新锐作家中国之行”活动，凯瑟琳受邀与广州、深圳和北京的读者分享了其创作之路及人生经历。
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He never expected to see anything on the 1)CCTV. No one ever did on the 2)night shift.
他从没指望过能从闭路电视里看到些什么。也没有哪个值夜班的人看到过什么。
He'd been looking at the same monitor screens for the past 13 years. When he closed his eyes he could still see all the empty corridors and locked doors in soft greyscale tones. Sometimes he thought they were just 3)flickering photographs—still lives that would never change. But then she appeared in the middle of the night and he never thought that again.
在过去的十三年里，他一直盯着这几块监视屏。当闭上眼睛时，他依然能看到所有空荡荡的走廊和紧锁的门户，笼罩在淡淡的灰色调中。有时候他会想，它们不过是会摇曳闪烁的照片罢了——永远都不会改变的静物。但后来，她在午夜时分出现了，但他不认为她还会再来。
It was the early hours of 4)Boxing Day. Green Oaks Shopping Centre closed only on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, and Kurt always worked both as part of the two-man skeleton crew. Because the customers didn't like it when the centre shut. On Christmas Day he'd seen the usual small angry crowd banging on the glass doors demanding admission. He'd watched them on the monitor and thought how like zombies they were. The undead demanding refunds and exchanges.
那天正是节礼日的清晨。绿橡树购物中心只在圣诞节和复活节关门放假，而作为这个两人轮值小组的组员，这两天总是由库尔特来值班。顾客们都不大喜欢看到购物中心歇业，因此在圣诞节那天，他如常看到一小群愤怒的顾客敲打着玻璃门要求进来。他从监视器里看着他们，想着他们多么像丧尸。一群要求退款和换货的活死人。
Now in the security office with only a beaten up Philips radio for company, he leaned back in the leather 5)swivel chair and unscrewed the lid of his 6)thermos flask—he wondered if it was too early to start his sandwiches. The DJ was dedicating “7)Wichita Lineman” to Audrey in Great Barr. Kurt quietly sang along with Glen. Scott had 8)drawn the short straw and was out in the darkness, 9)patrolling the icy, still car parks around the 10)perimeter. Kurt couldn't help but smile.
现在在保安室里，与他相伴的只有一部破旧的飞利浦收音机，他仰靠在皮转椅上，拧开保温瓶的瓶盖——他在想，现在就开始吃三明治是不是太早了一点。电台DJ正在播放送给（伯明翰市）大巴尔区的奥德丽的《威奇托巡线工》。库尔特轻声地随着格伦一起哼唱。斯科特被派去干倒霉差事了，在一片漆黑中四处巡查那冰冷寂静的停车场。库尔特忍不住偷笑了起来。
The camera view changed and 24 new flickering vistas opened up on screen. On the top left monitor he caught a brief glimpse of Scott walking 11)diagonally across the bottom half of the screen. His breath was visible for a second before and after his image appeared.
摄像头里的视像变了，新的视像于二十四帧屏幕中闪现。在左上角的监视器里，他瞥见了斯科特一闪而过，正斜对角穿过屏幕的下半部。在他的影像出现的前后片刻，他的呼吸隐约可见。
Kurt had a new year's 12)resolution. It was a week early, but he knew what it was already. It was easy to remember because it was the same as last year and the year before: he was going to quit his job and get out of Green Oaks. But this time he meant it. He'd never intended to stay in the job long and now 13 years had passed and he didn't know where they'd gone. Patrolling empty corridors, eating sandwiches in the middle of the night, looking at his reflection in the one-way glass. He seemed incapable of leaving; something always held him back. It bothered him that life was slipping through his hands and all he seemed able to do was watch it go. He had no ambition to do anything else, but he thought that he should.
库尔特有一个新年计划。虽然现在还早了一个星期，但他已经知道它是什么了。它很好记，因为它和去年的一模一样，还有前年的也是：他要辞掉工作，离开绿橡树。但这一次他想说到做到。他从没打算把这份工作干太久，而现在十三年都过去了，他也不知道时间都到哪儿去了。在空荡荡的走廊里巡逻，在午夜时吃三明治，从单向玻璃上看自己的影像。他似乎已经离不开这个地方了：总有事情拖着他止步不前。生命正从他的手中溜走，而他所能做的一切不过是看着它流逝，这让他不安。他没有雄心壮志去做其他的事情，但他认为他应该去做。