News Oh Dear… This Doesn’t Look Good…

[AgentPete]

Her steely account of homelessness and hope in the face of adversity captivated more than two million readers worldwide and was adapted into a film released this year starring A-listers Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs.
But it has now been claimed that Raynor Winn's account of losing her home before embarking on a mammoth trek of the South West Coast Path in her best-selling 2018 memoir, The Salt Path, may not be as 'unflinchingly honest' as initially billed - after allegations published today said she omitted key elements of her story.

This kind of thing has… happened surprisingly frequently in publishing. "Due diligence", guys!

And rather than being forced out of their home in rural Wales when an investment in a childhood friend's business went awry, as the book suggested, it is alleged that the property was repossessed after Winn stole tens of thousands of pounds from a former employer and was arrested.

Couple whose memoir inspired Salt Path film deny claims they misled

Her steely account of homelessness and hope in the face of adversity captivated more than two million readers worldwide and was adapted into a film with Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Vagabond Heart]

Wowsa. I'd better rewrite my query letter pretty fast.

Whether what this article says is true or not, I was never a fan. I just accepted that this book was popular for reasons I didn't get.

To be honest, I disliked her intensely after listening to her read the audiobook.
Her voice had a self-pitying slant that got on my last nerve.

But I assumed that reading it in hard copy was a different experience. And that, had I done so, I, too, would have felt the message of uplifting bravery that everyone else seemed to get from it.

The thing is, having been in a similar situation, I found her solutions to be weird. And selfish. And based on erroneous information about what kind of help was or wasn't available to them.

And her response to staying with friends while they sorted themselves out, for instance, seemed over-privileged and didn't hold water. Just because you don't feel comfortable doing it doesn't mean you "have no choice" but to do something else.
Yet she painted herself as the victim of the situation every single time.

And I think they made stupid choices, not brave ones.

If they really wanted a walking challenge, they could have done the Camino in Spain. The food would have been a quarter of the price, and the weather would have been kind to them (and especially to a sick husband) as they went into autumn and winter.
But no, they stayed in Britain, where it would rain A LOT. And food and camping costs a bloody fortune.

Plus, they'd blow £15 of their precious £42 a week living expenses on beer and chips. Fine. Do that. I mean, I've been in that situation and made different choices, but you do you. But then don't moan about having no money for food, and how terrible it is that you have nothing to eat. Start a JustGiving page or something.

Honestly, I could go on. But to hear they might have owned a holiday home in France all this time?

That can't be true, can it?

The bank would have taken that too, as one of their assets. And let's be fair, The Daily Mail isn't that into fact-checking either.

 

[E G Logan]

How do people imagine that if they put their story Out There, those who know it's not the 100% truth are going to keep quiet? All of them? For ever? When the back story is as grimy as that?

I believe I saw that Raynor Winn has a second book coming out...

 

[Vagabond Heart]

That'll be her fourth then?
Gotta say, beautiful covers.

 

[AgentPete]

The agent needs to carry a bit of the can for this (as I said above, due diligence…?)

It’s possible the publisher could demand repayment of the advance, and maybe (but not likely) compensation for future lost sales.

They key question – and I have no idea how this may play out – is will the readers actually care? Will they feel betrayed and lied to? Or will they just enjoy the book as faction/fiction, and keep on buying her next one(s)…?

Will be fascinating to see!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Sounds like a whole new film script....

 

[E G Logan]

That'll be her fourth then?

Sorry, haven't seen them. And, as you see here, I haven't counted them!

It will be interesting to see how the sales go, post-revelation. As a straw in the wind, I read that the author of the much-lauded (by some)Where The Crawdads Sing also has a dubious past, in another country – and it hasn't seemed to make the slightest difference to readers or the book-buying public.

 

[Sedayne]

Gotta say, beautiful covers.

I haven't read her books, but I do love the covers. The artist, Angela Harding, is a fantastic lino print maker specialising in British flora and fauna. I hope she doesn't get any associated fall-out.