The Eat, Pray, Love author who left her husband for her female friend has denied she’s suffering from a mid-life crisis.
Elizabeth Gilbert, who had a best-seller with her memoir Eat, Pray, Love, in which she finds herself following the breakdown of her first marriage, left her husband Jose Nunes this year for her best friend, Rayya Elias.
The revelation left fans of the book and film devastated, as Jose represented the happy ending found at the end of Elizabeth’s novel.
And in a Facebook live chat the author gave this week, Elizabeth has denied she’s having a form of mid-life crisis.
“Now I’ve left another marriage, it’s starting to look irresponsible and people are saying I’m having a midlife crisis,” she said.
“All I’m doing is telling the truth, again, and again, and again. In a way that says, ‘This isn’t working for me, I have to do this now.’”
Elizabeth was married to Jose for almost ten years before announcing their separation this year. In September, the author announced via Facebook that she was in a relationship with her longtime friend Rayya Elias, who is suffering with Pancreatic Cancer.
Confessing that they were now an item on Facebook last month, Elizabeth wrote:
“She is the most brave and honest person I know, and she has taught me more about courage and honesty than anyone I have ever met. Here is her mantra on truth, which I’ve heard her express so many times over the years, in so many difficult situations:
“‘The truth has legs; it always stands. When everything else in the room has blown up or dissolved away, the only thing left standing will always be the truth. Since that’s where you’re gonna end up anyway, you might as well just start there.’
“So I did what Rayya has taught me to do: I just started there. I spoke my truth aloud.
“For those of you who are doing the math here, and who are wondering if this situation is why my marriage came to an end this spring, the simple answer is yes. (Please understand that I cannot say anything more about it than that. I trust you are all sensitive enough to understand how difficult this has been.)”