Elizabeth Gilbert: "All the Way to the River" | Oprah's Book Club

Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@Oprah?sub_confirmation=1 Oprah’s Book Club: Presented by Starbucks features coffee and conversation with one of the most beloved writers of our time, New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert, in a café in Starbucks’ hometown Seattle. Her vulnerable new memoir, All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation, is Oprah’s 118th book club selection. The book details Elizabeth’s raw and riveting story of falling in love with her partner Rayya, navigating harrowing struggles and finding a path to healing in the years that followed Rayya's passing. Liz shares what was really going on in her life during the time Eat, Pray, Love was released, including her own journey with sex and love addiction, shocking stories about what happened after Rayya was diagnosed with cancer and Liz's personal surrender to recovery. Oprah describes her story as "the bravest thing I've ever seen." For this conversation, Oprah and Elizabeth are joined by an audience of readers as they enjoy the Fall favorite, Pumpkin Spice Latte. BUY THE BOOK! "All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation” by Elizabeth Gilbert, is published by Riverhead Books and available wherever books are sold: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/707805/all-the-way-to-the-river-by-elizabeth-gilbert/ HERE I AM The footage featured in Oprah’s podcast with Elizabeth Gilbert comes from the feature-length documentary, Here I Am, directed by award-winning filmmaker, Marc J. Francis https://www.marcjfrancis.com and produced by Speakit Productions (https://www.speakit.org). Here I Am is a deeply intimate portrait of Elizabeth and her partner Rayya Elias who opened their world to Marc, inviting him to witness and document their final year together. From the soaring highs of love, laughter and creativity to the devastating lows of illness, addiction, and grief, their story is a powerful meditation on what it means to love, live and let go. The film will be released internationally in 2026. For updates and behind-the-scenes insights about the film, subscribe at https://www.marcjfrancis.com/here-i-am 00:00:00 - Welcome Elizabeth Gilbert, author of All the Way to the River 00:03:08 - Elizabeth on ending her marriage, marrying her best friend Rayya 00:04:20 - Why Elizabeth chose to tell this story 00:06:45 - Oprah: “The bravest story I’ve ever seen” 00:07:20 - What is love addiction? 00:09:06 - Elizabeth’s connection with Rayya 00:11:38 - The “marriage benefit” imbalance 00:12:51 – Elizabeth says she has a love and sex addiction 00:15:05 - Substance vs. process addictions 00:19:19 - Why the book shocks her fans 00:20:00 – Elizabeth’s reaction to wealth 00:25:14 - Rayya’s cancer diagnosis 00:29:09 - Ignoring Rayya’s red flags 00:35:06 - Addiction to excitement and drama 00:36:50 - Rayya’s escalating drug use 00:39:20 - The rock bottom wakeup call 00:46:05 - The end of Rayya’s life 00:48:20 - Elizabeth’s message to those struggling 00:52:00 - Why Elizabeth chose to shave her hair 00:54:42 - Where she is in her recovery Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social: https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/oprah/ https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/ Listen to the full podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381