Salt Path author's next book delayed after ‘intrusive conjecture'

South Wales Guardian

11-07-2025

Raynor Winn's story, now a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, tells how she and her husband, Moth, walked the South West Coast Path after losing their home.
The memoir also recounts how Moth was diagnosed with a neurological condition, but The Observer newspaper reported that Winn may have misrepresented the events that led to the couple losing their home and that experts had doubts over Moth having corticobasal degeneration (CBD).
In a statement on Friday, Penguin Michael Joseph, which published The Salt Path in 2018, said Winn's next book, On Winter Hill, which was due to be published in October, will now be delayed.
A spokeswoman for the publisher said: 'Given recent events, in particular intrusive conjecture around Moth's health condition, which has caused considerable distress to Raynor Winn and her family, it is our priority to support the author at this time.
'With this in mind, Penguin Michael Joseph, together with the author, have made the decision to delay the publication of On Winter Hill from this October.
'We will announce a new publication date in due course.'
The Observer said the couple's legal names are Sally and Timothy Walker.
On Wednesday, Winn defended her memoir against claims parts of it were fabricated, posting clinic letters on Instagram addressed to Timothy Walker, which she said showed that 'he is treated for CBD/S and has been for many years'.
She wrote: 'The last few days have been some of the hardest of my life. Heart breaking accusations that Moth has made up his illness have been made, leaving us devastated.'
In a statement on her website, she said that the article was 'grotesquely unfair, highly misleading and seeks to systematically pick apart my life'.
She added: 'The Salt Path is about what happened to Moth and me, after we lost our home and found ourselves homeless on the headlands of the south west.
'It's not about every event or moment in our lives, but rather about a capsule of time when our lives moved from a place of complete despair to a place of hope.
'The journey held within those pages is one of salt and weather, of pain and possibility. And I can't allow any more doubt to be cast on the validity of those memories, or the joy they have given so many.'
In The Salt Path, the couple lose their house due to a bad business investment, but The Observer reported that the couple lost their home after an accusation that Winn had stolen thousands of pounds from her employer.
Publishing house Penguin previously said it 'undertook all the necessary pre-publication due diligence', including a contract with an author warranty about factual accuracy and a legal read.
It added: 'Prior to the Observer enquiry, we had not received any concerns about the book's content.'