Brief

True story. A year and a half into her marriage, Gabrielle finds out her husband has been having an affair. Then she meets a man, and he asks her to go to Europe with him. Forty-eight hours before their trip, he decides to go alone. Set on healing, however, she decides to go on the trip anyway - by herself.

What We Liked

- This is a modern-day take on how to deal with a broken heart, through a big trip overseas that plays on the very successful Eat, Pray, Love model;
- This would work as a film because the story follows the lead character's internal journey as she embarks on a physical one, traveling to exciting cities. Her thoughts would play out on the screen in her interactions with the people she meets in each city, as she draws closer towards gaining a better understanding of her life and who she is as a person;
- This would work as a TV adaptation as the character could be fleshed over the episodes, with each city she visits being explored in the episode itself. Each episode would build towards the bigger question, of whether she and her boyfriend will get back together, or whether she'll be truly okay with loving herself and being happy alone;
- Key points: There is heartbreak and healing; There are amazing cities featured in it; There are fun elements of adventure; It's set within today's time; There is some kind of resolution at the end of it.

Synopsis

Actress Gabrielle Stone is married to a man she’s known for 5 years. But then it becomes clear, after she goes through his phone, that he’s been sleeping with a nineteen-year-old. She files for divorce and leaves him. She realizes she never really loved him that much anyway — she’s been too guarded to let anyone in, believing for her whole life that everyone she loves dies. This belief was formed when she was six-years old and her beloved father died from a heart attack.

Not long afterwards, Gabrielle reconnects with a Latino actor she’d met years before, named Javier. After a whirlwind two-month romance, he asks her to join him on a trip to Italy for a month, where he will be before he goes to Mexico to shoot a TV series. But just two days before they’re due to leave, he has a sudden change of heart, still grief-stricken over the suicide of his brother, and he decides to go on the trip by himself. Gabrielle decides to go on the trip anyway, making up her itinerary as she goes.

She starts her trip in London first, where a best friend lives, and starts to push herself towards feeling more comfortable in new situations. She moves on to Paris, where she feels very lonely, and then Amsterdam where she has a one-night stand, and meets some new friends who invite her to join them in Mykonos. First, she goes to Barcelona. She tells her life story to every person she meets, and almost everyone has the same advice, ‘get over Javier, because you deserve more.’ In Barcelona, she develops feelings for one of the guys in the group, Chris, and when she leaves the city, they stay in touch. She heads to Mykonos to meet up with the group of friends she’d met in Amsterdam. In Mykonos, she meets a very good-looking American whom she sleeps with. She finally calls Javier and asks him if he wants to meet her at the end of her trip. He invites her to Sicily where he is, and they re-connect. He tells her he only loves her as a friend.

With some sort of closure, Gabrielle is able to end her trip on a good note, and at peace with being only friends with Javier. There is a new relationship on the horizon, with Chris from Barcelona, who has kept in touch and wants to see her. But ultimately, Gabrielle has developed a new relationship — one with herself, and that, she has learned, is by far the most important one of all.

About The Author

Gabrielle Stone has been acting professionally for years, following in the footsteps of her parents, Dee Wallace and Christopher Stone. After trouble in her personal life, she went on a solo journey to Europe, where she discovered how to heal and love herself, writing Eat, Pray, #FML as a guide for others.