2 September 2025, The Salt Path, Raynor Winn
We chose this as our September book just a few weeks after the Observer had reported at some length on the inconsistencies between Winn’s account in The Salt Path of walking the south coast path with her husband, Moth and their (the Observer’s) investigation into the circumstances of the same. Most notably, it was the author’s embezzlement of substantial funds from her employer which led to their ‘homelessness’, (it also revealed that they had a house in France), and not as recounted in the book, a bad debt secured on their home. The Observer’s reporting posed questions from medical experts about the nature of her husband’s terminal medical condition and his apparent remission as a result of their walk and it queried the accuracy of the re-telling of some events in Winn’s account which differed significantly from the recollections of those who had also been present. This book, hailed by reviewers on publication as, ‘a tale of triumph’, a ‘lyrical tale of homelessness, human strength and endurance’ and ‘the most inspirational book’, was thus suddenly controversial. Accordingly, we disagreed in our assessments! For some, this narrative of redemptive walking and wild camping retained its power to impress, both in the account of the natural world of the south coast path and in the account of the immense challenges faced and overcome by Winn and her husband – there is no doubt that they walked the path. For others, the factual inconsistencies revealed by the Observer’s investigation meant the veracity of the whole account was fundamentally undermined and the reading experience was thereby greatly diminished. For yet others it was the second time of reading a book which had not on the first encounter been judged satisfying; for them, the author had not generated empathy and her account had never landed as entirely genuine. As with all our reading, there was as much thought and debate in disagreement as there was in agreement.