Page 19 | Thread 12: To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film?

DisappointedReader · 2025-08-02T11:25:02+00:00

The Observer [[https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-real-salt-path-how-the-couple-behind-a-bestseller-left-a-trail-of-debt-and-deceit The real Salt Path: how a blockbuster book and film were ...]] 2nd Observer [[https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-salt-path-whats-in-the-book-and-what-the-observer-has-found https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-salt-path-whats-in-the-book-and-what-the-observer-has-found]] 3rd Observer [[https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-salt-path-the-truth-behind-the-blockbuster-book-video https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-salt-path-the-truth-behind-the-blockbuster-book-video]] 4th Observer [[https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/moth-told-me-he-was-dying-when-a-doctor-had-said-his-brain-scan-was-normal ‘I felt I was being gaslit’ – the landlord who helped Ray...]] Raynor Winn/Sally Walker's statement [[https://www.raynorwinn.co.uk/ Raynor Winn]] Thread One ^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5368194-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?* www.mumsnet.com/talk/amibeingunreasonable/5368194-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?]]^ Thread 2 [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5368685-thread-2-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?page=1 Thread 2. To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film? | Mumsnet]] Thread 3 [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5369425-thread-3-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/ami]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5369425-thread-3-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film being]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5369425-thread-3-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film unreasonable/5369425-thread-3-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?]] Thread 4 [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5370609-thread-4-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/ami]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5370609-thread-4-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film being]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5370609-thread-4-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film unreasonable/5370609-thread-4-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?]] Thread 5 [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5371570-thread-5-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film Thread 5: To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film? | Mumsnet]] Thread 6 [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5372494-thread-6-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/ami]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5372494-thread-6-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film being]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5372494-thread-6-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film unreasonable/5372494-thread-6-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-]] [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5372494-thread-6-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?]] Thread 7 [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5373425-thread-7-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film? www.mumsnet.com/talk/ami]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5373425-thread-7-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film? being]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5373425-thread-7-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film? unreasonable/5373425-thread-7-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?]] Thread 8 [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5375023-thread-8-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film? www.mumsnet.com/talk/ami]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5375023-thread-8-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film? being]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5375023-thread-8-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film? unreasonable/5375023-thread-8-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?]] Thread 9 [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5376712-thread-9-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film? www.mumsnet.com/talk/ami]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5376712-thread-9-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film? being]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5376712-thread-9-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film? unreasonable/5376712-thread-9-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?]] Thread 10 [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5378984-thread-10-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/ami]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5378984-thread-10-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film being]]^[[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5378984-thread-10-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film unreasonable/5378984-thread-10-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?]] Thread 11 [[https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5382212-thread-11-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5382212-thread-11-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?]] New posters welcome. It would be helpful to read at least the four Observer items above before posting. There are currently 10 items on The Observer website [[https://observer.co.uk/collections/the-real-salt-path The real Salt Path | The Observer]] To all - Please be extremely cautious when it comes to naming or implicating people and addresses not in the public eye or with no direct connection to the story, and around the understandable health speculations, especially where details are unclear or still emerging. Please do not engage with visitors who seem to have their own agenda and seek to derail. Avoid @'ing and quoting them as - from experience - this will only encourage them back to the threads. We have done amazingly well together for eleven very interesting, very serious and very silly threads so far. I can't be here as much as I'd like so all help with keeping our discussion walking along in a healthy and civil fashion is very welcome. No saltiness. Keep to the path. Will our life-size cardboard cut-out Simon Armitage keep his head? *NB Timeline coming in the first posts of this thread for reference.*

rainysummeragain · 03/08/2025 14:01

Fandango52 · 03/08/2025 12:28

This is really interesting - thanks for flagging this.

I hope Chloe H is able to check this register - or maybe she already has.

Also, RW’s account in TSP of Moth’s CBD consultation is vague enough that he is never actually definitely diagnosed with CBD. That may explain why he might not appear on the register, and my feeling is he isn’t actually on the register.

Show quote history

CH wouldn't be able to check this register to see if Moth is on it. It would be highly confidential so access would be extremely limited within NHS.

FurryHappyKittens · 03/08/2025 14:04

I would just pick up on the quote from a piece that was in The Independent, linked some threads back, which said “Moth (real name Ray)”. I don’t think that is attributed to either of the interviewees, it’s a mistake by the writer of the article who got their notes muddled and should have said, “Real name TiMOTHy)”.

@YourWinter What the piece in the Independent says is that Moth's real name is Ray, and that the nickname Moth is from his eco activist days in the 1980s and 1990s.

So it's quite specific about why he's called Moth.

AlertCat · 03/08/2025 14:05

FurryHappyKittens · 03/08/2025 14:04

I would just pick up on the quote from a piece that was in The Independent, linked some threads back, which said “Moth (real name Ray)”. I don’t think that is attributed to either of the interviewees, it’s a mistake by the writer of the article who got their notes muddled and should have said, “Real name TiMOTHy)”.

@YourWinter What the piece in the Independent says is that Moth's real name is Ray, and that the nickname Moth is from his eco activist days in the 1980s and 1990s.

So it's quite specific about why he's called Moth.

And some of us recall reading it almost verbatim in early editions of TSP, in the first chapter or so. I really regret selling my copy now!

Hyenana · 03/08/2025 14:06

Fandango52 · 03/08/2025 13:41

I’ve been thinking about this, @PullTheBricksDown and @Uricon2, and I think she constantly refers to this to help ensure her situation is seen as memorable and unique, to further add to her USP. It’s hardly groundbreaking as a technique, I know, but when added to all of the other things we’ve discussed on these threads, and given it’s marketed as an honest and true story, it does give it a clear USP.

Show quote history

Her constant talk about age reminds of this passage from a Guardian piece someone linked recently, on the allure of non-fiction nature/travel books:
Reading about someone else’s deep dive into forest, field or water furnishes us with the sense that we’re participating in an environment that, for much of the time, is at arm’s length. “That mediated experience is reassuring: it tells us that we still have the capacity for a certain depth and intensity of feeling, and that one day, when whatever the circumstances are that prevent us from doing so currently are over, we can pick up our relationship with nature where we left off – most likely in adolescence – and find meaning and belonging again.”
Which means the target audience is people who worry about their lost youth and if the opportunities to maybe live a more meaningful life are gone - something that increases in middle age.
So maybe it's her trying to tap into what she thinks are the insecurities of her readers about being old and boring, and being perceived as such by the younger generation.
Or maybe she is fictionalising her own inner monologue.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/aug/02/the-end-of-the-road-what-the-salt-path-scandal-means-for-the-nature-memoir

IvyGoldenM · 03/08/2025 14:08

Choux · 03/08/2025 13:56

Great post @IvyGoldenM. She / Penguin made it stand out from all the novels by saying it was true. But it isn’t and it’s ’highly misleading’ to call it non-fiction. Anyone who has bought the book or taken anything from it to apply to their own lives and problems has been hoodwinked by a thief and a publishing company who appear to have been happy to gamble that the money would keep rolling in and no one would question the story. It’s a literary scam.

Edited

i think it most telling, and very alarming, that the CEO of PRH describes himself as a ‘gambler’. This series of books certainly encourages gambling with health - and when your loved one is sick you will do anything to try and make them well. Any glimmer of hope is clutched and cherished - as John says in today’s article. The guilt and shame which accompanies not being able to emulate the ‘advice’ in a text like this is huge. It really is a literary scam. Penguin need to own this mess and put it right - it if the mistake is theirs and not the literary agent’s.

Fandango52 · 03/08/2025 14:11

YourWinter · 03/08/2025 13:58

I have followed all the threads and am impressed at the forensic research and what has been highlighted as questionable when compared to the narrative in TSP.

I read and enjoyed The Salt Path probably two or three years ago when I saw it at a house where I was dog-sitting. I have visited the north Devon and Cornwall coasts and Exmoor a few times over nearly 70 years, and liked reading about some place names I recognised. Then I bought The Wild Silence and didn’t like it at all. I’ve no inclination to watch the film and although hugely sympathetic to anyone affected by theft or dishonesty, I don’t really care if the timeline is completely inaccurate. My feeling was that the “unflinchingly honest” claim was only about Raynor/Sally’s feelings about their experience of losing their house and then wild camping along the route, rather than portraying an accurate account of each event.

I would just pick up on the quote from a piece that was in The Independent, linked some threads back, which said “Moth (real name Ray)”. I don’t think that is attributed to either of the interviewees, it’s a mistake by the writer of the article who got their notes muddled and should have said, “Real name TiMOTHy)”.

Thanks to all who have put the hours in to make this threads such a fast-paced and fascinating read!

I would just pick up on the quote from a piece that was in The Independent, linked some threads back, which said “Moth (real name Ray)”. I don’t think that is attributed to either of the interviewees, it’s a mistake by the writer of the article who got their notes muddled and should have said, “Real name TiMOTHy)”.

I don’t understand how you can be so sure that it’s the writer’s mistake and not RayMoth’s mistake or deliberate error. The writer will likely have recorded the interview and will have listened to it carefully and transcribed it, so it’s not an easy mistake to make. It seems much more likely that the writer included it because Raymoth told them his real name was Ray. And why would the writer have known Moth’s real name was Timothy? Moth is quite an unusual nickname.

Fandango52 · 03/08/2025 14:14

rainysummeragain · 03/08/2025 14:01

CH wouldn't be able to check this register to see if Moth is on it. It would be highly confidential so access would be extremely limited within NHS.

Show quote history

I know, but could she get confirmation he is on it via someone who can check it (with the appropriate permission, of course)?

CoolBath · 03/08/2025 14:18

AldoGordo · 03/08/2025 13:35

I think it implicates the agent more. I don't know we know if the publisher saw this version of the manuscript CH has seen.

It's curious to note the agent has a background in marketing and advertising.

Show quote history

But that’s what agents are! Salespeople! They take on an author whose work they like and believe in, but ultimately that they think they can sell, craft a good sales pitch and sell it to the highest bidder, taking their cut from that and subsequent moneys earned. If the book doesn’t sell, there’s no income. They’re commission only salespeople with no salary other than that.

cricketandwhodunnits · 03/08/2025 14:22

SwetSwetSwet · 03/08/2025 13:56

Sorry, before Polly. It felt to me that Moth did enjoy listening to the cricket, and she perhaps added the specifics about that test match from Wiki - no evidence that that is the case, but surely if they'd left early in August, it would have been the previous cricket match that he wanted to hear, when the result of the series hung in the balance.

Show quote history

I mean there is literally no way this incident happened as described - a cricket fan carries a radio all that way and switches it on for the first time just at the end of the final match of the series? Not a chance. If they did the walk roughly as specified, I could live with that as dramatic license (maybe he actually revealed the radio at the start of the walk but this scene works better as the end of a section) but (a) genuine cricket fans, and anyone else who stops to think about it for a minute, will just go "huh?" (b) as has been rightly said, it's a very, very handy way to put down an exact and publicly- recognisable date marker, and there might be a number of reasons for wanting to do that.

AldoGordo · 03/08/2025 14:28

CoolBath · 03/08/2025 14:18

But that’s what agents are! Salespeople! They take on an author whose work they like and believe in, but ultimately that they think they can sell, craft a good sales pitch and sell it to the highest bidder, taking their cut from that and subsequent moneys earned. If the book doesn’t sell, there’s no income. They’re commission only salespeople with no salary other than that.

Show quote history

Of course! I'm not an idiot to need that explained so frothily. Not all literary agents come from a corporate brand marketing background...so just making that observation.

Catwith69lives · 03/08/2025 14:33

@AldoGordo Is there enough grist in the form of your insights into the possible non continuous nature of the walk as well as other stuff that may emerge from the likes of Grant/Dave&Julie/Polly/Walker relatives that suggests there will be more Observer articles from Chloe H or are we just about done on the TSP controversy until such time as Raymoth/PRH decide to make a further statement?

HatStickBoots · 03/08/2025 14:34

SereneLilac · 03/08/2025 12:03

'frustrated box ticker under a shell of hippy cool’

She's describing herself

I think you’re right. I now see every personal attack she’s made on others as being a projection of herself.
She clearly didn’t like “Yompers” and they included a scene in the film which was related to that. In the books (pre Observer bombshell) I tolerated her observations whilst still under the illusion that she had a lot on her shoulders, physically and metaphorically and who was I to judge that? But now I know she thieved £64K and I think, the irony of you being critical of someone else who maybe works full time and can only walk at weekends or who enjoys a fitness challenge. Anyway, it’s none of her business and how would she know if they didn’t appreciate the view or the SWCP? I thought the scene in the film played out quite embarrassingly.

candycane222 · 03/08/2025 14:34

Hyenana · 03/08/2025 10:54

This is from Landlines, I found it in a free online sample, it's on page 65/66 there (probably different pages than in the physical book).
But my impression is that she and also PRH were getting bolder the longer they got away with it.
https://www.overdrive.com/media/8833265/landlines

Show quote history

No informed comment on the veracity of this, but ye gods, it's all so heavy-handed and overblown. Does it continue in this vein for the whole book? It's like being hit over the head with someone shouting "this is so dramatic!!!" in your face .

Maybe the book should be re-titled "The Jeopardy Hunters".

Fandango52 · 03/08/2025 14:35

HatStickBoots · 03/08/2025 14:34

I think you’re right. I now see every personal attack she’s made on others as being a projection of herself.
She clearly didn’t like “Yompers” and they included a scene in the film which was related to that. In the books (pre Observer bombshell) I tolerated her observations whilst still under the illusion that she had a lot on her shoulders, physically and metaphorically and who was I to judge that? But now I know she thieved £64K and I think, the irony of you being critical of someone else who maybe works full time and can only walk at weekends or who enjoys a fitness challenge. Anyway, it’s none of her business and how would she know if they didn’t appreciate the view or the SWCP? I thought the scene in the film played out quite embarrassingly.

Show quote history

What happened in the related scene from the film? I have seen the film, but can’t remember that bit.

CoolBath · 03/08/2025 14:35

Hyenana · 03/08/2025 13:41

Do we know when she signed her contract with PRH?
If TSP was published in March 2018, how long before must it have been to allow for all the editing, the advertisement campaign and whatever else is part of the publishing process to have taken place?

So is it possible they payed for that trip with advance pay by PRH?

Show quote history

It might be in The Bookseller, which often lists new acquisitions, especially if there’s an auction involving several publishers or a big advance — though there’s no particular reason to think TSP had either. But I don’t subscribe to it TB, so can’t search.

There’s quite a long lead-in in fiction, which I know better. If TSP came out in 2018 around the time Tim was doing his finals, yes, perfectly possible the advance was paid a year or more earlier?

She does mention (again around Tim getting his BSc) that they’re living on ‘the tail end of a student loan and an advance on the book’ and when they’re taking on the cider farm but still living in Polruan because the house is uninhabitable, and they have to pay two debts for a couple of months, she says ‘the advance on the book couldn’t last forever and there was no way of knowing if the sakes would increase or if it would disappear into obscurity.’ (It’s not out in paperback yet at this point.)

I have literally no idea what type of advance she’d have had, though.

Fandango52 · 03/08/2025 14:35

candycane222 · 03/08/2025 14:34

No informed comment on the veracity of this, but ye gods, it's all so heavy-handed and overblown. Does it continue in this vein for the whole book? It's like being hit over the head with someone shouting "this is so dramatic!!!" in your face .

Maybe the book should be re-titled "The Jeopardy Hunters".

Show quote history

😂😂

cricketandwhodunnits · 03/08/2025 14:35

cricketandwhodunnits · 03/08/2025 14:22

I mean there is literally no way this incident happened as described - a cricket fan carries a radio all that way and switches it on for the first time just at the end of the final match of the series? Not a chance. If they did the walk roughly as specified, I could live with that as dramatic license (maybe he actually revealed the radio at the start of the walk but this scene works better as the end of a section) but (a) genuine cricket fans, and anyone else who stops to think about it for a minute, will just go "huh?" (b) as has been rightly said, it's a very, very handy way to put down an exact and publicly- recognisable date marker, and there might be a number of reasons for wanting to do that.

Show quote history

And another thought that just occurred (apologies to anyone who prefers threads without cricket) - some folk here have suggested that even the 2013 stretch was actually done in short bursts rather than continuously. This would make more sense of the radio/cricket incident, because TW would have had the chance to catch up with the cricket (and acquire a radio?) while stopped, & then might take a radio along on the next short stretch in order not to miss the end. But - who knows. There are fewer and fewer fixed points in all this...

OpenThatWindow · 03/08/2025 14:36

CoolBath · 03/08/2025 14:18

But that’s what agents are! Salespeople! They take on an author whose work they like and believe in, but ultimately that they think they can sell, craft a good sales pitch and sell it to the highest bidder, taking their cut from that and subsequent moneys earned. If the book doesn’t sell, there’s no income. They’re commission only salespeople with no salary other than that.

Show quote history

I think it's very relevant that this particular agent has specific marketing experience though, as this gives them strong insight into promotion and audience targeting in particular.

Being 'salesy' is a slightly different skillset/mindset; I'm not splitting hairs but it's not something that can be brushed off entirely. Especially in this context.

Fandango52 · 03/08/2025 14:36

candycane222 · 03/08/2025 14:34

No informed comment on the veracity of this, but ye gods, it's all so heavy-handed and overblown. Does it continue in this vein for the whole book? It's like being hit over the head with someone shouting "this is so dramatic!!!" in your face .

Maybe the book should be re-titled "The Jeopardy Hunters".

Show quote history

Anyone able to access the Overdrive web link? It comes up with a ‘403 - forbidden’ message when I try to access it.

Peladon · 03/08/2025 14:38

CoolBath · 03/08/2025 12:46

There are (or were) photos of people purporting to be Dave and Julie on RW’s Instagram. I remember one taken in an Oxford college cloister (New, maybe?) before they set out on a Thames Path walk, I think?

I wonder if they’re in hiding in Cumbria…

Show quote history

The person who wrote the dire and fawning article supporting the author (which was liked by the agent on Linkedin) may have been studying at Oxford.

CoolBath · 03/08/2025 14:39

Fandango52 · 03/08/2025 14:35

What happened in the related scene from the film? I have seen the film, but can’t remember that bit.

Show quote history

There was a scene where they are chatting to another hiker, and the rest of the group stride past with a leader shouting about not wasting time and keeping up with the rest, and a visibly unfit guy lagging behind and looking exhausted and glum? There are various y about ‘We’re not in a hurry’, but I don’t know whether that was the punchline there.

101Seagulls · 03/08/2025 14:39

IvyGoldenM · 03/08/2025 13:47

Yes. This is an ‘unflinchingly honest’ true account. The interview with John in today’s print Observer highlights the cruelty and danger of dressing fiction as fact. The publisher has a duty of care to keep the contract of truth with the reader. These books sold so well because they were ‘true’. They offered hope, comfort, inspiration and stand on the pillars of the walk, the diagnosis and the unjust loss of the forever home. Without these, where is the dramatic elements? The emotional investment from the reader? The joy at their triumph over adversity? The redemptive element? This is the magic of these memoirs.
Without ‘truth’ these books are simply fiction. As works of fiction they are not strong enough to compete in a crowded and highly competitive market.
if we can’t depend on an institution like Penguin to ensure non-fiction is exactly that, then what is the point of this genre even existing? In a post truth age, truth matters more than ever.

Show quote history

Agree. Certainly I was invested in the book solely because of the double whammy emotional hook ( homelessness coupled with terminal diagnosis at THE SAME TIME) .That's some emotional hook.

HatStickBoots · 03/08/2025 14:43

Fandango52 · 03/08/2025 14:35

What happened in the related scene from the film? I have seen the film, but can’t remember that bit.

Show quote history

There’s a scene where a group of hikers pass them.. they’ve all got walking poles and are dressed appropriately and one of them is leading. The leader is seen as being impatient with some of the group and barking orders. You see “Ray and Moth” exchange glances at each other and Ray has a sort of smirky smile. In the audience there was a ripple of recognition that these were supposed to represent the Yompers we’d read about.
I have seen the film once but read the book twice.

AldoGordo · 03/08/2025 14:45

Catwith69lives · 03/08/2025 14:33

@AldoGordo Is there enough grist in the form of your insights into the possible non continuous nature of the walk as well as other stuff that may emerge from the likes of Grant/Dave&Julie/Polly/Walker relatives that suggests there will be more Observer articles from Chloe H or are we just about done on the TSP controversy until such time as Raymoth/PRH decide to make a further statement?

I really don't know.

CoolBath · 03/08/2025 14:49

OpenThatWindow · 03/08/2025 14:36

I think it's very relevant that this particular agent has specific marketing experience though, as this gives them strong insight into promotion and audience targeting in particular.

Being 'salesy' is a slightly different skillset/mindset; I'm not splitting hairs but it's not something that can be brushed off entirely. Especially in this context.

Show quote history

But what I’m saying is this this is every literary agent’s mindset. They need to have a strong sense of the current market, what editors are where, who’s moving, who likes what, if author X is moving to Picador with her backlist, is that going to leave a gap for a certain type of literary fiction at Granta, so maybe worth sending a book they’ve just taken on there. They need to be widely and well-read in terms of the type of book they represent, and to be able to suggest edits before they send it out, sure, but in some ways selling books is like selling cars.

Selling the book to a publisher and negotiating the best possible deal is their job, but once it’s sold, the promotion and marketing is done by the publishing house’s publicity department. Audience targeting won’t have been her agent’s doing but PRH’s. I think they did a good job. The cover choice was a remarkably good one, and they got the book in front of a lot of non-readers.