All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation (2025) Elizabeth Gilbert
I like Elizabeth Gilbert–I’ve totally read Eat, Pray, Love, City of Girls, and Big Magic… I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into with this book. And, absolutely no regrets. Much like EPL, she bears all and is brutally honest in sharing her story with much humility and vulnerability and I appreciate that. But this book was no EPL; this book exemplifies the brutal rollercoaster of addiction. And not just drug and alcohol addiction–Liz Gilbert outlines the complex and chaotic relationship dynamics between herself (a self-identified love and sex addict and co-dependent) and her partner (a self-identified drug addict) who passed away a few years ago from liver and pancreatic cancer. What I love about this book is the way it outlines the dynamics– It’s not just one or the other who are “the problem”, but both partners bring problematic and toxic patterns into the relationship in ways that I haven’t often seen in other autobiographical stories about addiction. Additionally, it highlights process addictions as much as substance use addictions.
The book is shared from the author’s perspective, and she reflects on positive experiences, challenges, mistakes, ways she caused harm to herself and to others, ways she enabled, how she became lost, and her rock bottom and the moment she started asking for help. But the story doesn’t end there, nor does her recovery really start there. Healing and change are not a linear process. But the book does conclude with her grounded into her recovery–a process that is never easy, but hopeful.
“In the process of recovery, I discovered that it was possible for me to have days where I didn’t necessarily feel good, but I still somehow sensed that I was doing well […] I was living in integrity even when it was difficult. And that was something to be proud of”.
How was this book recommended to me? The library app recommended it based on what else I’d been reading – I had no idea what it was about before I started reading.
Would I recommend this to my colleagues? Yes
Would I recommend this to my clients? Yes
How do I apply this content to my work: As an addictions counselor, I specialize in working with individuals who are struggling with addiction and/or working on their recovery. AND I also specialize in working with family members with loved ones who are working through addiction/recovery. I also facilitate a family education group with a treatment center, and one of the central points of all this work is to encourage family members to participate in their own parallel process of recovery because addiction affects the entire family whether or not they have picked up a drink or a drug. Everyone has (likely) contributed to the harm of addiction in each family system. And unless everyone in the system is working on healing, the system itself cannot heal. So I very much appreciate Liz Gilbert sharing her story openly with all of us–multiple times, her many memoirs highlighting her many chapters and opportunities for growth, mistakes, and new insights.
If you live in WA state and you or a loved a one are working through addiction and/or recovery, contact me. Let’s schedule a free 15-minute consultation and see if we might be a good fit to work together.
