The Salt Path Author Raynor Winn Breaks Silence On Controversy Surrounding Her Book

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15-07-2025

The author of The Salt Path has spoken out for the first time since her book became the subject of scrutiny and controversy.
Over the weekend, The Observer published a report which cast doubt on the legitimacy of some of the claims outlined in Raynor Winn's 2018 book, which was marketed at the time as a memoir.
In Winn's writing, she speaks of how she and her husband Moth walked the 600-mile length of the South West Coast Path, in South West England, after being made homeless.
She also speaks of Moth's struggles with the neurodegenerative disease corticobasal degeneration (CBD), with which he was diagnosed shortly before the couple was made homeless.
However, The Observer's piece raised questions about a number of parts in the book, including exactly what led to the couple being made homeless, and specific parts of Moth's illness.
Posting on Instagram for the first time about the matter on Wednesday evening, Winn wrote: 'The last few days have been some of the hardest of my life. Heartbreaking accusations that Moth has made up his illness have been made leaving us devastated.
'To combat these vile and heinous accusations, with Moth's permission, and on the advice of his neurologist, I am releasing excerpts from three clinic letters, showing he is treated for CBD/S and has been for many years. This is deeply personal information that no one should ever be forced to share, but we feel we have no choice in the face of this unbelievably hurtful false narrative. The redacted sections are for the personal privacy of Moth and the doctors involved.'
Winn also released a longer statement on her website, which read: 'Over the past few days, I have had vitriol poured on me from all quarters, along with threats directed at me, my family, and our children. It has been incredibly hard to remain silent, something I've had to do while waiting to receive legal advice. That legal advice is ongoing, but I can now speak up.
'The Observer article [is] grotesquely unfair, highly misleading and seeks to systematically pick apart my life. But, as our walk along the Salt Path taught us, when life has ground you into the dirt, you need to stand up, turn your face to the wind, and continue, unafraid. So that is what I must do.'
She continued: ' 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.'
Winn added: 'It's important to say, the Observer were offered the opportunity, by my lawyers, to discuss in detail the allegations made against me to correct their inaccurate account and to be guided on the truth, on the basis that the discussion would not be made public.
'However, they chose not to take it, preferring to pursue their highly misleading narrative.'
She also responded directly to specific allegations outlined in The Observer's piece, most notably claims that Winn embezzled money earlier in her life before being made homeless.
'The dispute with Martin Hemmings, referred to in the Observer by his wife, is not the court case in The Salt Path. Nor did it result in us losing our home,' she wrote. 'Mr Hemmings is not Cooper [a character in The Salt Path ]. Mrs Hemmings is not in the book, nor is she a relative of someone who is.
'I worked for Martin Hemmings in the years before the economic crash of 2008. For me it was a pressured time. It was also a time when mistakes were being made in the business. Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry.
'Mr Hemmings made an allegation against me to the police, accusing me of taking money from the company. I was questioned, I was not charged, nor did I face criminal sanctions. I reached a settlement with Martin Hemmings because I did not have the evidence required to support what happened.
'The terms of the settlement were willingly agreed by both parties; Mr Hemmings was as keen to reach a private resolution as I was. A part of that settlement was that I would pay money to Mr Hemmings on a 'non-admissions basis'. This is why we needed the money back from Cooper that we invested and I come on to that next.'
Read Raynor Winn's full statement on her official website here.
Since its release in 2018, The Salt Path has inspired two more books, with a fourth in the series reported to be in the pipeline.
Last year, it was also turned into a film, starring Gillian Anderson and The White Lotus star Jason Isaacs as its central couple.
A statement provided by Winn's legal team to The Observer said: '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.'