Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert announces she is in love with a woman

Gilbert said she had realised she was in love with her best friend, fellow writer Rayya Elias, when Elias was diagnosed with an incurable cancer

Elizabeth Gilbert, whose most recent book is the self-help tome Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear ((Rex Features))

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the bestselling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, has revealed that she is in a relationship with a woman. Ms Gilbert, who announced her separation from her husband this summer, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that her long-time best friend, Syrian-American writer Rayya Elias, had recently been diagnosed with incurable pancreatic and liver cancer.

“Something happened to my heart and mind in the days and weeks following Rayya's diagnosis,” wrote Ms Gilbert, who is 47. “Death — or the prospect of death — has a way of clearing away everything that is not real, and in that space of stark and utter realness, I was faced with this truth: I do not merely love Rayya; I am in love with Rayya.”

In July, the author announced her split from her second husband, businessman José Nunes, familiar to readers of her memoir as “Felipe”, the subject of the book’s final section, “Love”. In her post, she acknowledged that the marriage had come to an end as a result of her feelings for Ms Elias, 56. “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,” she wrote.

The two writers have been friends for more than 15 years, and often inseparable during that time. Now, Ms Gilbert said, “I’m walking through this cancer journey with her, not only as her friend, but as her partner.”

The post received an overwhelmingly positive response, following which Ms Gilbert returned to social media to thank well-wishers, tweeting: “Thank you for the love, everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

Published in 2006, Eat, Pray, Love recounted a year-long trip of self-discovery that Ms Gilbert had taken to Italy, India and Indonesia after divorcing her first husband. The author was played by Julia Roberts in a 2010 film adaptation, which also starred Javier Bardem as Felipe.

Ms Elias is also a memoirist and author of the 2013 book Harley Loco: A Memoir of Hard Living, Hair, and Post-Punk From the Middle East to the Lower East Side. Ms Gilbert said in her post that she would soon return to the public eye, adding: “Whenever Rayya is healthy enough to be by my side, she will be by my side."