On Wednesday, Elizabeth Gilbert announced some personal news. In a lengthy Facebook post titled “ME & RAYYA” and beginning with “Dear Ones,” the Eat, Pray, Love author revealed that she’s dating her best friend, Syrian writer Rayya Elias. “I do not merely love Rayya; I am in love with Rayya,” she wrote. “And I have no more time for denying that truth.”
Gilbert announced the end of her marriage to businessman José Nunes — who appeared in the “love” part of her memoir — in July. And in this post, she acknowledges that her feelings for Elias were what dissolved her union with Nunes: “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” — there follows a very long parenthetical about feelings, complete with a David Foster Wallace quote.
She also informs her readers that the reason she’s going public with her and Elias’s relationship now is because Elias has been diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer, which is incurable. She goes on, “I’m walking through this cancer journey with her, not only as her friend, but as her partner. I am exactly where I need to be — the only place I can be.”
Gilbert and Elias have been friends for more than 15 years, and last year a Sunday Morning Herald profile attempted to describe their bond:
Yep, she pretty much nailed it.