The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

I adore Simon Armitage. I must dig that one out. I spent a lot of my late teens walking along Cornish coastal paths and loved the Derek (Tangye) books about relocating to Cornwall.

Thank you for your review; I agree with most of it. I enjoyed the journey through Cornwall because it revisited my childhood holidays, but I thought it was an irresponsible undertaking, and some of the happy coincidences at the end stretched belief. It led me to Simon Armitage, the poet they encountered in St.Ives, and his book 'Walking Away' describes the similar journey he made earlier, but is better written and more incisive.

I agree with your sentiments, Gingster. I felt I needed to read it after all the comments on the 50 books a year thread and was slightly disappointed. Having recently read the sequel, The Wild Silence, I was even more amazed at the hikes they took on, particularly the one at the end to Iceland. Most people would not contemplate such a trip even if fit and healthy! Having said that, Moth's condition did seem to improve after each trip that Ray coerced him into doing, so there was method in her madness!

I read the Salt Path when it first came out, in two different book groups. Praise was almost universal in both, only one person didn’t like it, that I recall.

As time has passed, newer readers seem to be more critical of the book. I’m not sure if that’s because the author has had more media exposure (there was nothing much on the internet back when it came out) or people are fed up of hearing about it, or what.

Interesting how tastes have changed, though!

I really liked it. Probably they were irresponsible given the husband's condition, but driven to the edge of madness by their plight of losing their family home. I felt great sympathy for them.

Having visited great swathes of where they walked, I loved some of the descriptions of those places.

The Salt Path sold well and the follow up, which I haven't read, is riding high in the charts. I hope they have recovered some of the money they lost from the bad investments made which resulted in the loss of their farm, from the books sales, to now lead a comfortable life.

I enjoyed it but share your thoughts Gingster. Their choices seemed rather silly and they were so very unprepared which, I suspect, is why they got into such a mess in the first place. However, it made an interesting read and it was good to hear that Moth's condition eased while they stayed mobile.

We're all different, aren't we? Going for a very long walk is the last thing I or many of us would do in such a situation. Clever but no common sense is a good description but it made an entertaining read. I read it all from beginning to end and passed it on for BIL to enjoy.

Read about a page a gave up. Completely agree with OP. The whole concept annoyed me.Many people love it. A true Marmite book!