All the Way to the River

Love, Loss, and Liberation

By: Elizabeth Gilbert

Narrated by: Elizabeth Gilbert

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK

"A delicious mashup of narrative that's by turns harrowing and healing." –People

“Entertaining, insightful, wrenching … punch-to-the-gut powerful.” –The Washington Post

“A blockbuster: brutally honest, lurid, transcendent, and compelling…Gilbert is undoubtedly a force.” —Boston Globe

In her first nonfiction book in a decade, the #1 bestselling writer who taught millions of readers to live authentically (Eat Pray Love) and creatively (Big Magic) shows how to break free.

In 2000, Elizabeth Gilbert met Rayya. They became friends, then best friends, then inseparable. When tragedy entered their lives, the truth was finally laid bare: The two were in love. They were also a pair of addicts, on a collision course toward catastrophe.

What if your most beautiful love story turned into your biggest nightmare? What if the dear friend who taught you so much about your self-destructive tendencies became the unstable partner with whom you disastrously reenacted every one of them? And what if your most devastating heartbreak opened a pathway to your greatest awakening?

All the Way to the River is a landmark memoir that will resonate with anyone who has ever been captive to love—or to any other passion, substance, or craving—and who yearns, at long last, for liberation.

Critic reviews

Praise for All the Way to The River:

“Classic Gilbert: entertaining, insightful, wrenching, self-effacing, self-indulgent and profoundly real. Its strongest scenes, of Gilbert and partner Rayya Elias’s beyond-beautiful and then beyond-ugly interactions, are punch-to-the-gut powerful … She furthers the enduring women’s crusade to split the world open.”–The Washington Post

“A blockbuster: brutally honest, lurid, transcendent, and compelling…Gilbert is undoubtedly a force.” –Boston Globe

“A loving tribute to Elias, an unfiltered descent into substance abuse, and an intimate look at Gilbert’s hard fought road to recovery.” –TIME

“What makes this book worthy is the author’s fierce self-reckoning: There’s no easy triumph, just more hard work.” –Los Angeles Times

"A delicious mashup of narrative that's by turns harrowing and healing."–People

"Elizabeth Gilbert has written her rawest memoir yet. . .the acclaimed author pulls no punches, offering an unvarnished look at love, addiction, and the long road to recovery."–Elle

“Deeply personal…a beautiful portrait of a woman learning to care for herself.” –Real Simple

“Inspiring account…Gilbert achieves her signature intimacy through a bluntly confessional tone… and an admirable ability to stare darkness in the face without losing hope. Readers struggling with addiction or seeking a path through heartbreak will find invaluable wisdom in these pages.” –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Gilbert rips open her life to share all the painful moments and grief … in a story of despair and courage that … must have been unimaginable to write… Fans of her more lighthearted memoir and novels may be shocked by this book’s intensity, but it’s a brave story with an ultimately hopeful outcome. Anyone who has faced addiction—or loved someone who has—will recognize and be moved by Gilbert’s journey.” –Booklist, Starred Review

“The author of the world’s most famous memoir returns to the form to tell the story of a great love….A worthy addition to the literature of addiction and recovery, charming and harrowing by turns.” – Kirkus

Love of self

This audible was so good. Elizabeth Gilbert was an excellent narrator. This audible is for anyone who has ever experienced love, grief, addiction and a search for self and purpose. I’m rooting for myself and all of us in life school.

Breathtakingly Beautiful

It feels insincere to use my own words here to describe how impactful the story of Liz and Rayya has had on my heart. It’s raw and real and completely liberating to read. If Lizzie can spill her guts like this, so can we. I have been a partner of an addict and a love addict myself so this really hit home for me. Overall though, this book is about love and grief. I think anyone who has ever loved or grieved can receive wisdom from these words.

Absolutely perfect!

Few books resonate quite like this one. Thank you for putting words to how I’ve felt most of my life. I feel less alone. ❤️

Astounding.

As a longtime LG fan I had no doubt this would be an incredible book, a heartbreakingly beautiful story. I finished the book in 3 days because I deliberately paced myself to savor it properly. I laughed. I cried. I’m awestruck and gutted. I saw myself in every corner and every character. What a holy and precious tribute to love, loss, liberation, Rayya, Liz, and especially Lizzie.

Spiritual Reveal

Incredible! It’s like Gilbert ran out into this world, in front of the living and the dead, stripped naked and revealed her soul in its rawist, pure, form. A must read!