After indefinitely delaying the release of her book, which is set in Russia, in an attempt to satisfy Ukrainian readers who felt it insensitive to publish amid the Russian invasion, writer Elizabeth Gilbert has faced a swift backlash among free speech activists and fellow authors who call her rationale muddled and the precedent worrying.
Elizabeth Gilbert, pictured here in 2019, is facing backlash over her decision to indefinitely delay ... [+]
After receiving “an enormous, massive outpouring” of “anger, sorrow, disappointment and pain” from Ukrainian readers about the decision to publish a book set in Russia, Elizabeth Gilbert said on social media she was indefinitely delaying the release of her book The Snow Forest.
While some fans called it a compassionate move, others wondered what precedent this creates for free expression and self-censorship.
In a statement, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said Gilbert’s decision was “well-intended” but ultimately “wrongheaded.” Several fellow authors took to Twitter to express their confusion and dismay, including Lincoln Michel who wondered whether “no book should be set in historical Russia now? … A novel about people resisting the USSR no less?” And Rebecca Makkai wrote, “So apparently: Wherever you set your novel, you'd better hope to hell that by publication date (usually about a year after you turned it in) that place isn't up to bad things, or you are personally complicit in them.” In Unherd, Leigh Stein wrote that the “idea that a novel about a family fleeing religious persecution from Communists is in any way ‘pro’ Russia is not only absurd, It’s also the exact same argument of potential ‘harm’ wielded by the crusading book banners in American schools.” In the Guardian, Francine Prose called Gilbert’s decision “unsettling” and said “if we are to ban the cultural products of countries who are attacking, or who have attacked, smaller weaker nations and innocent populations, there would be almost nothing left for us to read.”
While Prose pilloried Gilbert, her colleague at The Guardian, Emma Brockes commended Gilbert, writing, “in a social media landscape in which meekness and conformity and throwing everything between quote marks is encouraged, this kind of earnestness is bold and refreshing.”
Gilbert is the author of eight books including the best-selling memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, which was turned into a film starring Julia Roberts. The Snow Forest, Gilbert said, is set in 20th century Siberia and tells “the story of a group of individuals who made a decision to remove themselves from society to resist the Soviet government and to try to defend nature against industrialization.” The book was announced earlier this month and was scheduled to be released Feb. 13, 2024, which is the month of the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Further statements from Gilbert or her publisher Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Group. Riverhead Books told The New York Times that Gilbert had no further comment at this time, but the author said on social media that anyone who preordered the book would be refunded in full and that she was turning her attention to other projects.
When or if the book will ultimately be published.
‘Eat, Pray, Love’ Author Halts New Book Set In Russia Amid Criticism From Ukrainian Readers (Forbes)
Elizabeth Gilbert’s self-cancellation sets a dangerous precedent (Unherd)
Elizabeth Gilbert is pulling a novel set in Russia from publication. That’s unsettling (The Guardian)
Elizabeth Gilbert was ridiculed for shelving her Russia-set novel, but I quite admire her (The Guardian)
Pundits Weigh in on Gilbert's Decision to Pull Russian-Set Novel Over Ukrainian Backlash (Publishers Weekly)