'The Salt Path:' A book that captured the hearts of millions, but now mired in controversy

Key Points

• The Observer alleges that Raynor Winn fabricated key elements of “The Salt Path,” misrepresenting the couple’s legal names, homelessness, home loss circumstances and ownership of a French house.
• Medical experts have cast doubt on Moth Winn’s diagnosis of corticobasal degeneration after questioning his lack of acute symptoms and apparent reversal of the disease.
• Winn calls the accusations “highly misleading” and has sought legal counsel, while publisher Penguin Michael Joseph has agreed to delay her next book’s release.
• The scandal now threatens the memoir—which sold over 2 million copies—and its film adaptation starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, with potential impacts on sales, distribution and compensation claims.

LONDON (AP) — “The Salt Path” is a memoir of resilience and courage that captured the hearts of millions and which was subsequently adapted for the big screen, with actors Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs taking the lead roles.

But now, the book and the film are mired in a controversy that could see them suffer that very modern phenomenon — being canceled.

On Friday, publisher Penguin Michael Joseph agreed with author Raynor Winn to delay the publication of her next book, according to long-time specialist magazine The Bookseller.

The delay is the latest blowback from a bombshell report in last Sunday's “The Observer” newspaper in the U.K. that claimed there was more to the 2018 book than met the eye — that key elements of the story had been fabricated.

Author Raynor Winn stands accused of betraying the trust of her readers and of reaping a windfall on the back of lies. Winn accepts “mistakes” were made, but that the overarching allegations were “highly misleading.” She has sought legal counsel.

The book

Winn's book tells how she and her husband of 32 years, Moth Winn — a well-to-do couple — made the impulsive decision to walk the rugged 630 miles (around 1,000 kilometers) of the South West Coast Path in the southwest of England after losing their house because of a bad business investment.

Broke and homeless, the memoir relays how the couple achieved spiritual renewal during their trek, which lasted several months and which saw them carry essentials and a tent on their back.

The book also recounts how Moth Winn was diagnosed with the extremely rare and incurable neurological condition, corticobasal degeneration, or CBD, and how his symptoms had abated following the walk.

It sold 2 million copies in the U.K., became a regular read at book clubs, spawned two sequels and the film adaptation, which was released this spring, to generally positive reviews.

On its website, publisher Penguin described the book as “an unflinchingly honest, inspiring and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world. Ultimately, it is a portrayal of home, and how it can be lost, rebuilt, and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.”

That statement was released before the controversy that erupted last Sunday.

The controversy

In a wide-ranging investigation, The Observer said that it found a series of fabrications in Raynor Winn's tale. It said the couple’s legal names are Sally and Timothy Walker, and that Winn misrepresented the events that led to the couple losing their home.

The newspaper said that the couple lost their home following accusations that Winn had stolen tens of thousands of pounds from her employer. It also said that the couple had owned a house in France since 2007, meaning that they weren't homeless.

And perhaps more damaging, the newspaper said that it had spoken to medical experts who were skeptical about Moth having CBD, given his lack of acute symptoms and his apparent ability to reverse them.

The book's ability to engender empathy from its readers relied on their personal circumstances. Without those hooks, it's a very different tale.

The response

As a writer of what was represented as a true story, Winn had to attest to her publisher that the book was a fair and honest reflection of what transpired.

Any memoir may have omissions or hazy recollections.

But making things up are a clear no-no.

In the immediate aftermath, Winn made a brief comment on her website about the “highly misleading” accusations and insisted that the book "lays bare the physical and spiritual journey Moth and I shared, an experience that transformed us completely and altered the course of our lives. This is the true story of our journey.”

She fleshed out her response on Wednesday, describing the previous few days have been “some of the hardest of my life,” while acknowledging "mistakes” in her business career.

She also linked documents appearing to show Moth had been diagnosed with CBD, and described how the accusations that Moth made up his illness have left them “devastated.”

After the allegations were published, Penguin said it undertook "the necessary pre-publication due diligence,” and that prior to the Observer story, it hadn't received any concerns about the book’s content.

The long-term

It'll be interesting to see how the book's sales and the film's box office receipts are affected by the controversy. Those should start emerging in the coming days.

In addition, there are questions now as to whether the film will find a U.S. distributor and whether Winn, in particular, will face compensation claims, potentially even from readers.

Winn was meant to be in the western England town of Shrewsbury on Friday on the Saltlines tour, a “words and music collaboration” between her and folk band The Gigspanner Big Band.

Her legal team said that Winn is “deeply sorry to let down those who were planning to attend the Saltlines tour, but while this process is ongoing, she will be unable to take part.”