Barbara Sapienza, PhD, is a retired clinical psychologist and an alumna of San Francisco State University’s creative writing master’s program. She writes and paints, nourished by her spiritual practices of meditation, tai chi, and dance. Her family, friends, and grandchildren are her teachers. Her first novel, Anchor Out (She Writes Press, 2017), received an IPPY Bronze for Best Regional Fiction, West Coast. Her second novel, The Laundress (She Writes Press, 2020), received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. Sapienza lives in Sausalito, California, with her husband.
I identify with Elena's journey as she faces the unknown and opens herself to magical connections with others. She is afraid, but she still leans into and trusts an inner intuition that guides her, teaching us that even as we encounter darkness, new ways of seeing can be found. -Gail Warner, author of Weaving Myself Awake: Voicing the Sacred Through Poetry