Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert announced that she and husband José Nunes have split after almost 10 years of marriage.
“Because I have shared details of my private life with you all so intimately over the years, I feel the need to share with you this recent change in my personal life,” she wrote on Facebook on Friday, July 1. “I am separating from the man whom many of you know as ‘Felipe’ — the man whom I fell in love with at the end of the EAT PRAY LOVE journey. He has been my dear companion for over 12 years, and they have been wonderful years. Our split is very amicable. Our reasons are very personal.”
The 46-year-old writer detailed the beginning of their love story in her 2006 memoir. After her divorce from her first husband, Michael Cooper, she embarked on a journey around the world where she found comfort by eating in Italy, praying in India and finding peace and love in Indonesia. Toward the end of her adventure in Bali, she met a Brazilian businessman with whom she fell in love.
Eat, Pray, Love later became a film in 2010. Julia Roberts starred as Gilbert alongside a star-studded cast, including Billy Crudup, Viola Davis, James Franco and Javier Bardem, who played Felipe.
“At this time of transition, I hope you will respect our privacy,” she continued on Facebook on Friday. “In my heart, I know that you will do so, because I trust that you understand how this is a story that I am living — not a story that I am telling.”
In similar Eat, Pray, Love fashion, she explained that she’s taking a break from social media. “I thank you for your love, and for your kindness, and for your continued blessings,” she said. “Hold us in your thoughts. And I hope you will understand and forgive me if I am a bit absent from social media during this sensitive moment.”
Gilbert also shared a poem by Jack Gilbert (no relation to the Big Magic author) called “Failing and Flying,” about a failed marriage. “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly,” one line from the poem reads.
