Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (2006), published by Penguin
What is it about? With its tagline, "One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia", Eat Pray Love is a memoir which chronicles Gilbert's discoveries and encounters as she travels the world after her divorce. From seemingly having it all, with a successful career, country home and husband - Gilbert still felt panic and confusion before setting upon a path of spiritual self-discovery.
Why you should read it? One of the best-selling books of its time, which was adapted into a film of the same name starring Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem in 2010, Eat Pray Love is escapism writ large. "The point isn't that you go do what I did but maybe this book will encourage you to ask the same questions that I asked myself that led to this journey," says Gilbert. A personal story with universal resonance.
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What the critics say: "To read about her struggles with a 182-verse Sanskrit chant, or her (successful) attempt to meditate while being feasted on by mosquitoes, is to come about as close as you can to enlightenment-by-proxy." Lev Grossman,Time
What has Gilbert been up to since? Gilbert wrote two other novels and two further memoirs. She decided to pull the publication of her latest book The Snow Forest, which is set in Russia, in light of the invasion of Ukraine.
For readers of… This One Wild and Precious Life by Sarah Wilson, The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, Jack Kerouac's On the Road.
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (2006) is published by Penguin
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