Why we should give The Salt Path a wide berth

The Herald Scotland

09-07-2025

And of course, while The Wolf of Wall Street was an accurate representation of New York broker Jordan Belfort's rise and fall; the stories of drugs excess, rampant criminality and adventures with sex workers all real, it was pumped up a little. Belfort never once tried to bribe FBI officers. He wasn't actually known as 'The Wolf of Wall Street'; (the title arrived when creating the book title). And the office contests involving throwing little people didn't happen with quite the same regularity as suggested.
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So, yes, writers are allowed/encouraged to embellish, to take dramatic or comedic license because true life is often listless and boring. The task of the writer is to compress, condense, and distil, and sometimes add a little piquancy to entice the audience along in the journey.
But how far is the writer allowed to wander across the line of truth? Audiences are now asked to answer that question given the accusations surrounding The Salt Path, a 'true' story which emerged firstly as a 2m-selling bestselling book and now a movie starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs. It's a wonderful tale of self-discovery, of life affirmation and endeavour, which tracks the hiking journey made by Raynor Winn and her husband Moth's 630-mile traipse along the sea-swept South West Coast Path.
This heart breaking story of perseverance, of a couple in their early 50s forced out of their rural home in Wales and seeking solace in nature, was a powerful enough tale of devastated lives with disaster compounded by the diagnosis of Moth's terminal illness with a neurological condition.
Yet, it's been claimed that the protagonist's background story is as stinky as some of the dog dirt the couple picked up on the soles of their hiking boots.
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For starters, Raynor Winn and Moth are actually Sally and Tim Walker. Sally Walker's Salt Path story claimed the couple lost the family home after a business investment - in which she was helping out a friend, an act of altruism - turned to lead and the couple's savings were blitzed.
But an investigation by The Observer alleges that Sally Walker had worked as an estate agency bookkeeper from whom she embezzled £64,000. After police were involved, she disappeared, turned up in London and they borrowed money - £100,000 - from a distant relative, to pay back it. Their house was put up as collateral. And all calmed down, police didn't pursue charges - but the the relative's business went bust, and he called in the loan. To add to the dark underbelly of the tale, Moth's 'incurable' illness has also been called into question. And it transpires the 'homeless' couple actually owned land in France.
Yet, why let the truth get in the way of a good story? Walker/Winn turned to writing and made millions. And when asked about the embezzlement claims she recently released a carefully worded press statement; 'We are taking legal advice and won't be making any further comment at this time. The Salt Path 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.' They also said the claims were 'highly misleading.'
the Salt Path poster (Image: PA)
Sure, part of the story is true. But can we truly wallow in their stories of human support and love and kindness while managing to push aside the backstory which has more holes than their cheap pup tent? In writing biographical tales the truth is a spectrum, but can we commit to a writer to whom facts are a stranger? Can a writer truly suggest insight into the human condition when they're so deeply flawed? Yes, Hitchcock did it continually, successfully. But he wasn't writing his own story.
Okay, we've got to allow for imagined or reimagined accounts. Next week at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, The Last Laugh suggests a meeting between Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Bob Monkhouse, covering enough of the reality of their relationships to allow for a comedy springboard. Terry Johnson's play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick once allowed the writer to relive parts of the lives Sid James and Barbara Windsor. And West End hit The Motive and the Cue platformed a partly fictionalised expansion of the working experience between Burton and Gielgud. So we have to remember that while truth is often stranger than fiction it's not often quite as funny. (Roby Roy producer Peter Broughan was of the opinion a good biopic of an historical figure 'told lies to tell the truth'.)
And presenting a reformed reality can be a clever device which allows writers to hint at truths without having to sell the house and the BMW by way of libel reparation. And they allow for audiences to bring their own knowledge of the protagonists to the party.
But that doesn't mean we should accept a redacted, post-truth world 'reality' relayed to us by the sort of people we wouldn't leave alone in our house with our PIN numbers. The story may not be not life in actuality but didn't the Walkers present it as such?
So, give the book - and the film – as wide a berth as the Salt Path is long. And if you've already bought into both, write to the publishers and producers and ask for a full refund. At the very least truth should be a close approximation.