MNHQ here: AMA with award winning investigative journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou, Weds 28th Jan, 7-9pm

[RhiannonEMumsnet]

Hi there,

We’re delighted to announce an AMA with award winning investigative journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou on Wednesday 28th January, 7-9pm.

Chloe is the Observer’s narrative editor, and she’s best known for her work exploring the story behind Raynor Winn’s memoir The Salt Path - which you can hear more about in this new Observer podcast.

Please post your questions for Chloe below and join her on the thread on Wednesday evening to hear the answers.

As always, please remember our guidelines - one question per user, follow-ups only if there’s time and most questions have been answered, and please keep it civil.

Thanks,
MNHQ

Thanks so much for doing this Chloe!

I'm interested in the couple's characters before/soon after they met.

Apart from family, have you made contact with anyone from their early lives (school/college mates, friends, work colleagues) and if so how far back and what did they say about SW's and TW's characters?

What are the thoughts regarding the reason for the, apparently, more extensive (than generally expected for a memoir) disclaimer at the beginning of The Salt Path?

Have you been able to find out anything about how much of TSP was ghostwritten?

“Due dilligance” is meaningless. What will Penguin’s next steps be regarding this revelation, will there be an apology and the books re-marketed as fiction?

Thank you for all your sterling work Chloe.

Tying in with my post on the other thread. How similar are HNTDDD and TSP - can you categorically say they are by the same author, and are sections of the storyline in TSP clearly taken from / similar to HNTDDD? Has the level of similarity been established? If so, have you approached SW for confirmation of whether she has plagiarised the earlier work, if she maintains that she is not the earlier author? Have you approached PRH to ask whether they are aware of potential plagiarism in one of their books? If so, what has been the response?

Or if she accepts that HNTDDD is her debut, how have PRH responded to questions about publishing a reportedly ‘original’ work that has been previously published (in part) in a different form, by a different publisher? What will they do to rectify this? And what is the response of the CB prize organisers?

(Sorry this is more of a thematic multi-question! And thanks so much to Chloe (and team) for the brilliant job that has been done so far).

Was there anything you wrote that The Observer declined to publish for legal reasons?

Just to say thanks, it's been fascinating and utterly shocking. There's been a lot of speculation on MN about their motives and if its a co-dependent relationship ( with maybe Tim in the more controlling/ cohesive position, even though Sally has actually been the one carrying out the crimes and the public lying) . Also that they actually believe that what they have done is justified and logical in the circumstances, despite them being of their own making .
I do wonder what their children must think now knowing what their parents have done ..

Do you think that Sally and Tim actually care though or that they think it will all go away and they will ride it through unscathed and she will carry on being a successful author..? Also
Do you think Penguin ( or the film company ) are at all worried that they have been exposed or do you think that they are happy that your investigation has increased sales/ viewing?

This is a thread for questions for Chloe to choose from to answer

Good question! Why Tim come in for less blame?

Hi Chloe. Did you find anything to indicate that Sally Walker did not, as she has apparently claimed, complete two years of a law degree by correspondence course whilst in Burton on Trent in the early 90s? Some of us have wondered if any post school studying she may have done was in reality for something much more basic such as a clerical qualification.

Many people were recommended this book to purportedly help cure various illnesses including CBD which give them and their loved ones false hope.

Given that this tentative diagnosis of a terminal illness happened, as far as I can gather, at least six years after symptoms were present, do the neurologists you spoke to believe that 1) this actually happened? 2) it is normal practice to give terminal diagnoses for vague symptoms, given that most doctors err on the side of caution?
To add, Penguin publishers have known since your research for your excellent article back in July (if not well before) that the ‘unflinchingly honest’ account was anything but. Do you think they have fallen short of their moral obligation to ensure integrity, accuracy and quality of this series of books and should they be held accountable?

I really enjoyed the podcast.

Do you think Raynor/Sally expected that the book would fly under the radar and no-one would question her assertions or version of events? After all, many books don’t sell very well or go out of print. Surely when she got a film deal she must have realised that publicity and interest would ramp up?

Now that she’s a multimillionaire, has she made a goodwill gesture and refunded the Hemmings family or her own family any of their money?

Hi Chloe. I’ve been fascinated by all of this work you’ve done, but what fascinates me most is the relationship between Sally and Tim. Like @Laska2Meryls , I really wonder what sort of role Tim has had through all of this and whether their relationship is coercive (Sally forced into theft), open and frank (they both decided to do these things), or secretive (Tim didn’t know she was stealing). I know you haven’t met them and you may not want to speculate openly, but I wonder what you may have gleaned from speaking with people who did see them together and even stayed with them. Does the rage described by Bill Cole seem to you a controlled part of an abusive man or an aberrance which really could be attributed to a degenerative brain disorder removing inhibition like Parkinsonism can?

Edited because I had written Time instead of Tim!

No one wants SW to harm herself (or anyone else). Apologies for posting this point in the questions site (esp as it is obvious and has been said many times in the threads).

Speculation about the ‘trigger’ or cause of suicide can oversimplify the issue and should be avoided. Suicide is extremely complex and most of the time there is no single event or factor that leads someone to take their own life.

www.samaritans.org/about-samaritans/media-guidelines/10-top-tips-reporting-suicide/

Following the need for deletions, a reminder that this is an AMA thread specifically for posting questions to Chloe. The best place to have continuing discussions is to start your own thread rather than derailing this one. Many thanks.

Yes! I'm not available on Wednesday evening either. I'll have to read afterwards too and so will be joining you @AlertCat . There is the AMA topic here for this and all the previous AMA threads:
Ask Me Anything | AMA | Mumsnet

Sorry, asking another question - feel free to ignore it if you run out of time on Wednesday.

What would your advice to Salray be from this position?
Do you think it would be possible for her to recover her integrity and make a come back?

Do you have any information on Sally when she worked at the White House Hotel in Abersoch?