‘Eat, Pray, Love’ Author Halts New Book Set In Russia Amid Criticism From Ukrainian Readers

Topline

Best-selling Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert is indefinitely delaying her new book release, she announced on Monday, after the novel’s setting in 20th-century Russia drew backlash from Ukrainian readers who felt it was insensitive given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Best-selling Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert is indefinitely delaying her new book release, … [+] she announced on Monday. (AP Photo/Paul Jeffers, File)

AP/Paul Jeffers

Key Facts

Gilbert said in a social media post she received “an enormous, massive outpouring” from her Ukrainian readers expressing “anger, sorrow, disappointment, and pain” about the decision to publish a book set in Russia.

The best-selling author said she heard the messages she received calling the decision to publish the book into question and as a result is “making a course correction and [she’s]

removing the book from its publication schedule.”

Before halting publication, Gilbert’s book, The Snow Forest, was set to publish in February 2024.

Gilbert told her social media followers that anyone who already pre-ordered the book will be refunded and she plans to turn her attention to other projects.

Crucial Quote

“It is not the time for this book to be published,” Gilbert said on Twitter. “And I do not want to add any harm to a group of people who have already experienced, and are continuing to experience, grievous and extreme harm.”

Contra

Suzanne Nossel, who runs the free expression organization PEN America, called the decision to halt publication of the book “regrettable.” “Ukrainians have suffered immeasurably, and Gilbert’s decision in the face of online outcry from her Ukrainian readers is well-intended,” Nossel said. “But the idea that, in wartime, creativity and artistic expression should be preemptively shut down to avoid somehow compounding harms caused by military aggression is wrongheaded.”

Chief Critic

The Snow Forest has more than 500 one-star ratings on Goodreads, a book reviewing website. Users left comments like “the worst timing in the history of worst timings” and accused Gilbert of romanticizing Russia.

Key Background

Gilbert described the novel, whose release was announced last week, as “set in the middle of Siberia in the middle of the last century,” and says it “told the story of a group of individuals who made a decision to remove themselves from the society to resist the Soviet government and to try to defend nature against industrialization.” Gilbert is the author of eight books including her 2006 bestselling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, which details her divorce and journey around the world traveling to Italy, India and Indonesia. The book was subsequently turned into a 2010 film starring Julia Roberts.

Tangent

The announcement follows a trend since the start of the war in Ukraine for institutions and individuals to distance themselves from Russian artists and writers. In May, PEN America canceled a panel that featured Russian writers at the organization’s World Voice Festival after Ukrainian writers objected, drawing criticism from reporter and former board member Masha Gessen, a frequent critic of the Russian regime. The Metropolitan Opera in New York cut ties with Russian soprano Anna Netrbko last year, after she expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, the New York Times reported.

What We Don’t Know

It’s unclear if the book will be revised in some form and eventually released.