Books by Elizabeth Gilbert
All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation
by Elizabeth Gilbert
Every new book from Elizabeth Gilbert—author of the mega-bestselling memoir Eat, Pray, Love—is a pop cultural phenomenon, and her 2025 memoir All the Way to the River has certainly made an impact. In it, Gilbert describes the diagnosis of her best friend Raya with terminal cancer, and their subsequent decision to upend both their lives to be together for Raya's final days. But Raya, a recovering addict, soon relapses, Gilbert wrestles with their increasingly codependent relationship, and ultimately they must turn to Raya's ex for assistance. All the Wat to the River was released to wall-to-wall coverage and mixed reviews. "Excruciating," declared The Guardian; so did The New York Times. It's a "train wreck" of a memoir, agreed the Financial Times—but that's what makes it compelling: "All the Way to the River is irresistible for its sense of impending, unstoppable disaster — you can see the collision coming a mile away, but the author can’t hear you yelling at her to get off the tracks."
Before Elizabeth Gilbert became known as the tell-all, turn-your-life-around memoirist behind Eat, Pray, Love, she was a highly acclaimed short story writer. Whether you love or hate the book that made her name, you’re missing out if you haven’t read her fiction. (Dip your toe in first, with the fine short story ‘The Finest Wife’.) The Signature of All Things is a glorious, sweeping novel about a (clever, tricky, Eleanor-esque) female botanist during the time of Darwin, working on a rival theory of evolution. Alma Whittaker has big bones, plenty of money and a spirit that won’t be broken. But she’ll break your heart.
From our article Books like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Interviews where books by Elizabeth Gilbert were recommended
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1
Mother Mary Comes to Me
by Arundhati Roy -
2
107 Days
by Kamala Harris -
3
All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation
by Elizabeth Gilbert -
4
This is for Everyone: The Unfinished Story of the World Wide Web
by Tim Berners-Lee -
5
Raising Hare
by Chloe Dalton -
6
The Minotaur at Calle Lanza
by Zito Madu
New Memoirs
New Memoirs
New memoirs continue to come out hard and fast, testimony to our enduring interest in hearing people tell the stories of their own lives. So far in 2025, these have included candid tales told in painful detail by talented writers, as well as books that combine personal history with other objectives—such as, for example, saving the internet.
