Book review and literary controversy – “The Salt Path” by Raynor Winn

I suggested this to my book club as our first read of the summer – I had seen a trailer for the film (starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs) and it reminded me that I had bought this book some time ago and it was sitting on a bookshelf somewhere in my house, unread. We thought we could read the book then watch the film – I’m a fan of Gillian Anderson (frankly, who isn’t?) so thought it was bound to be good. 

Almost as soon as I started reading it, the whole controversy around the book blew up – for anyone who needs reminding, there were allegations (published in The Observer in July) that the author misrepresented aspects of her partner Moth’s illness, and that she had defrauded a past employer and that was the reason for losing their home. Even if you have not read the book, I am certain you will have heard of it, if you live in the UK certainly, so you will no doubt know that the premise of the book is that the author and her partner are evicted from the rural home they have lived in for years after falling into debt as a result of a bad business investment (she alleges in the book that the couple were poorly advised, misled even, by an old friend). At around the same time Moth is diagnosed with an incurable degenerative neurological condition. Facing poverty, homelessness and inevitable physical decline, they decide to embark upon a walk, England’s South West Coast Path that goes through Devon, Cornwall and Dorset. The distance is in excess of 600 miles. 

The book was a spectacular success for the debut author – a story of grit and determination in the face of a cruel world (both the human and the natural), a journey of self-discovery and finding joy in the simple things in life when all material possessions are stripped away. The book also set the author on a successful career in writing and she has since published two further nature memoirs. A fourth book was due to be published this summer but Penguin have put this on hold due to the controversy surrounding the author and The Salt Path.

But what of the book itself? My fellow book club members and I quite liked it, but I’m afraid it did not meet our expectations. The writing is good in parts, but in others I found it quite…mediocre? The comments on double standards in attitudes to homelessness and poverty are worthy but they are handled in a clumsy way; for example, where the couple encounter abusive locals or holidaymakers who sneer at their clothing, their poverty, their demeanour or their behaviour I found the account did not ring true. You would not necessarily expect the author to recall every word precisely accurately but I would expect an author to be able to write a conversation or dialogue that felt authentic. Some of the stories about places they camped and how they fled at dawn to avoid paying for a pitch felt like tall tales. Finally, I just found the book a bit boring, I’m afraid. I wasn’t gripped, or keen to read on finding out what happened on the next 10 mile stretch. Many times I just found myself drifting off. 

As for the accusations of misrepresentation, well that is problematic. The publisher really should have done their due diligence, particularly as the book is so detailed at the start about the ‘bad business’ that got them into financial difficulty (I’m surprised their former business acquaintance’s lawyers are not on to them as well). Personally, I found this part of the book particularly uninteresting and it read to me like getting back in print under cover of a confessed naivety. I think it’s okay for a memoir to stretch the truth a little for narrative effect, but on the face of it it seems the author has gone too far in that respect, though it must be said she denies all the allegations made against her. For me though, the book is quite weak overall so I am not sure what has been gained by the misrepresentation (if there has been any) – it would have been enough had they just found themselves at a financial/health/age-related crossroads and embarked on the journey for no particular reason. 

Quite honestly, I am surprised it won so many plaudits and everyone in my book club was decidedly underwhelmed. Cheryl Strayed’s Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found is a far superior example of the genre in my view.