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Now available for presale!
Step off the ferry from Seattle, and the city fades behind you—its noise, its rush, its endless complication. What remains is the quieter rhythm of Washington’s small towns. In this collection of writings, Mary Lou Sanelli introduces readers to Bainbridge Island, its people, places, and the conversations that define “this island of us.” Here, life moves to its own pulse and rituals, kindnesses, grudges, and quiet truths unfold beneath the endless gaze of the surrounding waters.
Sanelli has a rare gift for balancing the personal and the universal, guided by a wry, irreverent wit and an unflagging curiosity. She observes the full spectrum of human emotion with compassion, never sentimental and always honest. In An Island Called Bainbridge, her writings move effortlessly from reflections on friendship, “her generous nature filled every inch of my kitchen,” to the currents of local and human politics, “there is fear under the surface of a lot of us”. Through it all, her attentiveness reveals the intimate bond between people and the land that sustains them, a lens through which she discovers balance, within herself and in the world around her.
Mary Lou Sanelli is the author of fourteen nonfiction titles, including Every Little Thing, Among Friends, and In So Many Words. Her novel, The Star Struck Dance Studio of Yucca Springs, was published in 2021, followed by the children’s book Bella Likes to Try. She is also a professional literary and keynote speaker, a columnist, and a master dance teacher. She lives with her husband on Bainbridge Island.
“Sanelli’s writing is a fine mixture of literary nonfiction and memoir that often, and honestly, examines the act of writing itself.” —The Stranger, Seattle
“Sanelli is an exceptional observer. Her writing is at once intellectually inviting and deeply personal.” — The Seattle Weekly
“Mary Lou writes with a voice that resonates with readers and neighbors. I hear often about how her topics seem to echo what’s on someone’s mind, telling stories with wit and charm that resonate in people’s lives.” —David Nelson, Editor, Kitsap Sun
“Sanelli brings a welcome sense of the very human. Her essays are communal moments of grace and connection.” — Rick Simonson, Elliott Bay Book Company
Publication date: October 6, 2026
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-63398-198-0
Now available for presale!
Step off the ferry from Seattle, and the city fades behind you—its noise, its rush, its endless complication. What remains is the quieter rhythm of Washington’s small towns. In this collection of writings, Mary Lou Sanelli introduces readers to Bainbridge Island, its people, places, and the conversations that define “this island of us.” Here, life moves to its own pulse and rituals, kindnesses, grudges, and quiet truths unfold beneath the endless gaze of the surrounding waters.
Sanelli has a rare gift for balancing the personal and the universal, guided by a wry, irreverent wit and an unflagging curiosity. She observes the full spectrum of human emotion with compassion, never sentimental and always honest. In An Island Called Bainbridge, her writings move effortlessly from reflections on friendship, “her generous nature filled every inch of my kitchen,” to the currents of local and human politics, “there is fear under the surface of a lot of us”. Through it all, her attentiveness reveals the intimate bond between people and the land that sustains them, a lens through which she discovers balance, within herself and in the world around her.
Mary Lou Sanelli is the author of fourteen nonfiction titles, including Every Little Thing, Among Friends, and In So Many Words. Her novel, The Star Struck Dance Studio of Yucca Springs, was published in 2021, followed by the children’s book Bella Likes to Try. She is also a professional literary and keynote speaker, a columnist, and a master dance teacher. She lives with her husband on Bainbridge Island.
“Sanelli’s writing is a fine mixture of literary nonfiction and memoir that often, and honestly, examines the act of writing itself.” —The Stranger, Seattle
“Sanelli is an exceptional observer. Her writing is at once intellectually inviting and deeply personal.” — The Seattle Weekly
“Mary Lou writes with a voice that resonates with readers and neighbors. I hear often about how her topics seem to echo what’s on someone’s mind, telling stories with wit and charm that resonate in people’s lives.” —David Nelson, Editor, Kitsap Sun
“Sanelli brings a welcome sense of the very human. Her essays are communal moments of grace and connection.” — Rick Simonson, Elliott Bay Book Company
Publication date: October 6, 2026
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-63398-198-0
