The Salt Path - what do you think?

There was a mjor article in The Observer yesterday linked to a Panarama(?) programme.

The Observer article spilled over 2 broadsheet newspaper pages and more.

It was uite clear that the story in the book is fiction and that the author has at various times stolen significant amounts of money from an ex-employer and close family members.

I do hope, having made so much money from the book and film, she has reimbursed all those she cheated.

Primrose53

Can you update us please Sarnia when you have watched it.

I won't go into details in case some have not yet had a chance to watch the documentary.
Suffice to say, Sally & Tim, their real names, have lied to and stolen from family, friends and employers. Not to mention those people who have paid good money to read her book and watch the film.
Both of them are bereft of any remorse or apology, they see themselves as victims. She is very fortunate not to have seen the inside of a cell. Two thoroughly unpleasant people who, unsurprisingly, refused to appear on the programme.
She has another book due out next year. I doubt the publishers will pull the plug as all the noise around The Salt Path may boost sales. I for one will not be buying it and I hope others boycott it too.

The programme was on Sky Documentaries last night. Very illuminating and disturbing. They have two grownup children but they were barely mentioned.

Thanks for the update. They barely mentioned their adult kids in the books either which I thought was odd.

I sat down to watch but only caught the last five minutes, (asleep!) Is recorded, so will learn all. Last five minutes disturbing enough.

More revelations about Raynor Winn. She claimed The Salt Path was her debut novel. She pocketed £10,000 for it being the best debut novel that year. It must have slipped her mind that this was, in fact, her second novel, having penned one previously.
Why does she need to keep on lying?

The more we learn of her life the more it seems to be one of deception and taking advantage of other people.

The phrase “a couple of grifters” comes to mind.

Primrose53

Allira

Just don't mention the Observer article, singingnutty!

🤣🤣

Too late! 😂
The whole scenario about the book and the couple in general was ‘well iffy’.

I listened to an excellent podcast on BBC sounds about this last night.
I'll try to post a link.
Sorry my shaky fat finger wasn't up to the job! But it's easy to find

She really is the gift that keeps on giving isn’t she, and fooled so many people. Her collaboration with one of my favourite bands, Gigspanner, is what annoys me the most. You’d think that, with so much to hide she would have kept a lower profile, but I guess she’s one of those people that believe their own lies.

www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2026/new-bbc-sounds-secrets-of-the-salt-path-podcast

Thanks Graceless. I didn’t know about this…going to listen to it now…

Thank You Maybee for doing the link!

I think a lot of us disliked her when we first read the book and are relieved that our instinct was justified. I know that I felt a bit bad about feeling that way with no, at the time, justification for it.

…As a complete technophobe I’m quite chuffed that I can do links. It’s my one and only ( apart from procrastination) superpower !

Finished listening to it. It was really well balanced and interesting but, well balanced or not she did not come out of it well. To be honest all these later revelations make the book far more interesting. Reminds me a bit of Piltdown Man [sp]. The thing about lies is that most people can't live with them. That girl who said she would walk round the world for Live Aid actually missed a bit [only because she got pregnant and had an abortion] but she eventually admitted it, went back and did the bit she missed. Whereas Raynor Winn seemed quite happy to continue with the lie. I just hated her monotonous speaking voice, couldn't listen to the audio book or Gigspanner when she was with them.

I found the couple to be a couple of scroungers very soon on in the book, things just didn't add up. I do hope they repaid every penny back to the kind people that believed them but somehow I doubt it, their decisions adversely affected a lot of good, decent people, hope the publisher gets reinbursed.

Gillian Anderson was writing in the Times last weekend. She played Raynor in the film. She said she was disappointed and hurt that she had been duped.

I know someone who had a close relative who died of the horrible (and incurable) degenerative neurological disease that "Moth" was said to have had. He knew that it was quite impossible for that kind of cure to happen, and found the whole story very distressing.

It was an insult to people suffering from the condition Moth was supposed to have, plus saying mind over matter cured him, they should be ashamed of themselves, delightful pair but do believe in Karma, cannot imagine the damage they did to their children,