Good grief, that story has so many holes in it, it would give a colander a run for its money.
i think the reason there has been so much interest in the couple, comes down to the book being marmite. I belonged to two book clubs, and this book was chosen for both (first time I only needed to read one book!).Club members either loved it, or conversely hated it, there was no middle ground. We’ve done books not everyone has enjoyed, or given up on, but either it’s been reasonably unanimous or there’s been a middle ground of ‘not for me, but it was well written’ type comments. The Salt path was full on division. I couldn’t stand the book, the author came across as angry, foolish, hostile, and just all round unpleasant. I couldn’t understand how Moth was able to get up from a camping mat on the floor, given his ‘terminal’ diagnosis, by the time a disease like this becomes terminal, there is generally a significant decline in function (I worked on neuro wards at the time of reading), she also mentioned the toll it was taking on Moth, when they were given a roof over their head in return for labour, again suggestive of his illness making physical work challenging. I didn’t understand why the court refused to listen to the evidence which would have exonerated them, although I know nothing about the law or how courts work. I also though the way she went on about deciding to represent herself [in court] and the clothes she wore to ‘kick-ass’ (I think was the term she used, but I read this in 2019, so might have mis remembered), all seemed childish, when dealing with something as serious as losing their home. Add in the anger at when the seagull nicked part of a pasty one of them was eating, and that did it for me! I just couldn’t find any redeeming features in the book, it didn’t feel like a book about overcoming adversity, just an enormous whinge fest.