The Salt Path readers are fuming and demand refunds after 'true story' controversy
Bookshops and online stores are offering refunds for The Salt Path, as author Raynor Winn is accused of lying about and leaving out key elements of the South West Coast Path story - and readers feel "conned." Winn has been accused of not being completely honest in her account of the memoir - which is about a huge hike around the South West Coast Path.
Angry readers of The Salt Path are demanding refunds and leaving the once-loved book scathing reviews after author Raynor Winn was accused of lying. The "true story" has now been contested, although the writer maintains that it reflects her and her husband's journey "accurately".
But readers are now asking for refunds as some have said they feel "conned" and "disappointed". Others have flocked to the book's Amazon page to leave negative reviews, since the accusations came to light.
Moving circumstances were detailed in the book, that more than two million people have read, but now Winn is facing claims that it is not a true story - and some key elements were omitted. Readers have been leaving one-star reviews on the Amazon book page for the book, as well as requesting refunds en masse.
It all comes after an investigation into the "true tale" by The Observer newspaper. However, Winn continues to defend the book and the account of the real-life experience herself and her husband endured.
The newspaper investigation looked deep into the backgrounds of The Salt Path's protagonists, Winn and her husband, Moth. Their real names are Sally and Tim Walker - and though the book detailed them being forced out of their home in Wales, this the investigation argued was not true.
Instead, the exposé alleged that when an investment in a childhood friend's business went wrong, their property was repossessed. Further, Winn is accused of stealing tens of thousands of pounds from a former employer, for which, the Observer writers, that she was later arrested.
Allegedly, the couple then failed to repay a loan taken out with a relative to repay this "stolen money" which had been agreed on the terms that police involvement would be avoided. However, after failing to repay, it's claimed that this is the reason the couple lost their home.
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Despite the investigation's claims the couple have defended the memoir's contents. Raynor told The Mirror: "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.'
Readers have been left fuming, with Amazon reviews of the book demanding refunds. One reviewer said they felt "completely conned" and another wrote they "didn't want to read it anymore". Others mentioned the investigation into the author's The Salt Path had left them really "disappointed".
Questions over Moth's rare neurological condition, corticobasal degeneration have also been raised - as life expectancy after diagnosis is up to eight years, the NHS reports. However, Moth has been living for 18 years since he was told he has the disease - which is similar to Parkinson's - yet he has no visible symptoms.
The Observer's investigation contacted neurologists who specialise in corticobasal degeneration - and one told the newspaper that his illness "does not pass the sniff test" in their opinion. But the couple continue to defend the book - which has also been made into a major film - and the story behind it.
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