A Big, Magic Kind of Night

Meeting Elizabeth Gilbert

Dearest Readers,

Last week, I had the incredible privilege of being invited to a Bloomsbury dinner where the guest of honor was none other than ELIZABETH GILBERT!

The first time I knew I loved Liz Gilbert was when I read her memoir ‘Committed’ at 20 years old. It’s a book about love, marriage, and the expectations and complexities of both. In hindsight, it’s hilarious to me that this was my first introduction to her work—at an age when I knew nothing about marriage, let alone the tangled realities of desire, fidelity, and the responsibility of sharing a life with someone.

Fast forward more than a decade, and I find myself at this dinner, sitting across from her. And now—having just separated from my husband—it feels kismet, like this was always meant to happen.

Meeting Elizabeth Gilbert was a divine experience, and I mean that in the religious sense. There is a holiness about how Liz sits with everyone she meets. It’s the eye contact, the way she listens, the thoughtful questions and her honesty in answering the questions we threw her way.

It should come as no surprise, of course. You see it in the way she shows up for her readers online, and you feel it in her writing.

But the question I was afraid of the answer to was: Would she be the same in real life?

Well yeah. Yeah she was.

From the moment she walked into the room she opened her arms, and welcomed every single one of us. She asked questions, insisted we tell her what to read, and was genuinely curious about what we were all doing in the bookselling space. She listened—really listened—with the kind of presence that is rare and deeply felt.

It got me thinking about what it means to be in the public eye. I think about this often, having had my fair share of interactions with celebrities over the years. There’s this unspoken expectation that public figures must always give their all, even when the cameras are off—that they must always perform.

And it must be exhausting.

With authors, especially those who write memoir, it’s no different. When you pour your heart and trauma onto the page—grief, divorce, loss, addiction—readers take it personally. It’s an intimate exchange, and when they meet you, they want to share their own stories in return. It’s a huge weight to carry.

But Liz carries it in a way that feels effortless, like taking a mug back to the kitchen sink.

When she stood up to speak about her upcoming memoir, All The Way to the River (out September), I had to hold back tears.

In that small room you could’ve heard a pin drop, everyone was speechless. I know I wasn’t the only one who was deeply moved.

The way she spoke about her partner Rayya—their love, Rayya’s illness, her struggles with addiction, and eventual passing—reminded me of all the ways Elizabeth Gilbert has transformed throughout her years in the public eye.

Elizabeth Gilbert’s work has stood by me through so many seasons of my adult life. Her fiction is just as powerful as her nonfiction.

‘Signature of All Things’ is, by far, my favorite. It’s a work of historical fiction and in my opinion has been totally underestimated and untapped. Someone MUST option it and make a TV series, it is STUNNING.

The story follows Alma Whittaker, the daughter of a renowned botanical explorer, as she carves out her own path in the world of plants and science. Her meticulous study of moss draws her into the mysteries of evolution, leading her on a profound spiritual journey that unfolds across the 19th century.

It’s a captivating mix of history, romance, and spiritual discovery, featuring a fierce female protagonist you can’t help but root for.

If you are new to EG’s work may I suggest the following order of your education :

• Start by reading ‘Big Magic’

• Listen to this ‘On Being’ podcast between EG and Krista Tippet (my friend Caits describes the On Being podcast as ‘going to church’ and I have adopted this. I always feel 10 x better after listening to it.

• Read ‘Signature of All Things’ : my store is going to say zero stock but i’ve got more stock on the way. I bought the last copy for a friend who, shock horror, LOVED IT.

• Read ‘City of Girls’

• Read ‘Committed’

• Read ‘Eat, Pray Love’ then watch the movie.

• And last, but not least, wait until September to read ‘All The Way To The River’ something tells me it is going to be a powerful book that will change many lives.

On the walk home, I felt myself well up. Was it the raw vulnerability shared around the dinner table that moved me? The experience of telling my own story of grief and heartbreak? Or was it simply the perfection of that pavlova for dessert?

I don’t know. But without a single drop of alcohol, I was drunk on life—the mind-bending tragedy of joy and pain, forever wrestling for the front seat.

Happy Reading !

And tell me if you’ve read and loved EG’s work as much as I have.

Jessie

xxx