Thread 21 : To feel disappointed - and now disgusted too - after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film?

[DisappointedReader]

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The Observer's original exposé: The real Salt Path: how a blockbuster book and film were ...

First thread: To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film? | Mumsnet

Links to threads 2-16, the other 20 Observer articles and videos to date, Raynor Winn/Sally Walker's statement, our timeline and sources can all be accessed in the OP and first few posts of Thread 17: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5403285-thread-17-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?

Thread 18: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5422393-thread-18-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?

Thread 19: www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5437058-thread-19-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?

Thread 20: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5454438-thread-20-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?

New posters joining us in the genuine spirit of our civil discourse are welcome. It would be helpful to get the background from at least some of the Observer exposé items before posting.
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. Remember, even Hollywood rabbits attract the odd flea. Please do not engage with drive-by scolders and ploppers 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. Over 5 months we have done amazingly well together for 20 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 our usual reasonable and respectful fashion is very welcome.

Keep to the path. No saltiness. Our Cardboard Mascot Our Simon has had his head stuck back on and is wearing a very fetching tinsel boa. The charabanc is bedecked with fairy lights and very well stocked up. May the seasonal fudge and mulled cider be with you one and all. 🎅🌲🎁❄️🎄

These threads are the gifts that keep on giving:
New:

• Salt Path: A Very British Scandal, available from Monday 15th December Sky Documentaries and NOW TV
• ‘Don’t look for the money. I’ve taken it all’: Salt Path author Raynor Winn’s ‘confession’ that she stole from her family | The Observer

Up and coming:

• Observer Newsroom: The Real Salt Path Story, Thursday 8th January 2026 6.30-7.30pm. More information and to book via this link observer.co.uk/our-events/the-real-salt-path-story
• Podcast series from The Observer's award-winning Investigative Journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou
• BBC Documentary (NB Not involving Our Chloe)

*MNHQ correcting above 'Documentary' to 'Podcast' at request of author

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It really doesn't surprise me - especially if they were taking the money over a period of time, for different amounts each time so no pattern and producing realistic receipts.

The accountants are often not party to the day to day so wouldn't necessarily know about major purchases of good and services and if there were genuine-looking invoices for things that appeared possible might not question it.

I once knew of an organization that was defrauded out of £1,200,000 without realizing through fake invoices for renovations, vehicles, electrics and false insurance claims.

There was another organization I worked with back in the days of cheques that was defrauded by the simple means of a member of staff stealing the new chequebook, going on a spending spree and then leaving the job... the person who carried it out was also the person responsible for balancing the chequebook each month.

If fraudsters appear confident and efficient people often don't question it.

I agree! I was sorry when that came to an end, it was a thoroughly entertaining garden path!

I wish it'd been longer!

No I do think she sort-of confesses when the chips are down but it’s a long way from taking responsibility for her actions and listing her misdemeanours.

The line “don’t look for it, I’ve taken it all” in the letter absolutely signals alarm bells for me, I bet if people had looked into it they would have found it was actually worse than they imagined. A bit like Martin Hemmings bank manager finding not £9k but £64k gone over years.

I have just watched the Sky Documentary. I’m trying to decide what I would be thinking if I had had NO background from reading the book or reading newspaper articles by Chloe and others (very difficult when one has read and seen so much)
My main takeaways would be
He sure didn’t look sick, especially after we saw the Consultant talk about the symptoms and then we see Moth with a very animated face, and walking down a county path with a very steady gait
Wow, she not only stole from her employer, she also stole from both sides of the family! ( The doco doesn’t mention that the copy of the email was unsigned)
I might have noticed that they left their home in the dark of night, having cleared the place out, rather than hiding under the stairs from the baillifs.
They made a LOT of money from the books and still are.

The emotional destruction amongst Salrays family members was heartbreaking to see but I’m wondering how far back does her embezzlement go? It takes enormous skill and subterfuge to fabricate receipts, especially bank statements. I’m guessing her mendacity began in childhood; boasting and lies all for financial gain. Dinner money rackets? Homework scams?

I can't find a transcription of the letter anywhere (and can't watch the documentary, dammit!) but the extracts I have seen seem more like instructions. Don't do this, do this, don't take it to the police... I just know that if I had done something like this and had to write to a family member I would be full of reasons WHY I'd been forced to steal - starving, mortgage overdue, desperation for money, and then absolutely jam packed with apologies and assurances that I'd never done it before and would never do it again and I'd repay as soon as I possibly could.

Not dictating what reactions other people should have and what actions they should take. That seems psychologically to be trying to control the entire situation.

.

What I am trying to get at in my post above is will the documentary make many people who were not previously aware of the situation sit up and take notice?

I think those who are interested are already interested if you see what I mean. Those who aren't won't watch the documentary or read anything around the case. My friend (who loved the books) knows vaguely that everything has been called into question but she's not interested in the ins and outs, she's kind of depending on authority to sort it all out. She's a passive type and I'd take a bet that many readers are the same. Very 'well, if there's anything in it the police/her publishers/lawyers will sort it out and make sure she's punished.'

We are some of the unusual ones who are invested in the whole thing and in seeing some degree of justice done. Lots of people, sadly, just don't care.

That’s exactly the reaction I’m getting, along with variations of:

• mild/detached curiosity
• a wish to not get caught up in a witch hunt
• reminders that doctors can be wrong and miracles happen
• it not being a big deal in the scheme of things

Sigh.

I think part of the problem is that too many people want to believe Sal. They want, or need, to believe that everything that is printed as being 'true' really IS true. They can't cope with the level of uncertainty and intellectual input that requires them to think about what they are reading. So they still think she is going to stand up with evidence that everything she wrote is absolutely true and her family (and friends and associates and workmates and distant relatives) are just inventing stuff 'because they are jealous'.

I echo your sigh.

Yes, my MiL gave me the book in the first place, so I told her when this all broke back in the summer and she winced away from it and basically asked me not to tell her any more about it. I may mention the further revelations over Christmas but without any expectation of her wanting to know more. She’d rather just enjoy the books as they are.(I am thinking of giving her the two sequels for Christmas- I got them off Vinted- but will mention that their veracity has been thoroughly called into question if I do!)

Saw this in Waterstones this morning, and thought it was the new Sally Walker book.... 😆😆😆😆

(Sadly, plenty of the three books on display, but I managed to cover them all up).

I continue to be encouraged by the steady number that arrive in charity shops. Oxfam online now lists 100 RW books. Obviously it fluctuates and the ones that are bought tend to be the cheapest paperbacks - maybe by people on here! The ones they 'enterprisingly' listed for £40 or £50 have stubbornly stayed put.

The message about the scandal must be trickling through ...

That's interesting @BemusingBrandy, hopefully as there is more coverage people will stop buying the books. When there was speculation about how much money the books have made for Raynor, a figure of two million pounds was thought to be about the amount made. Without continuing royalties bringing in a lot of money, no chance of doing appearances and performances, I wonder how long the money will last.

They have two children, that they will probably want to set up, buy them homes if they haven't already bought their own. House prices are really high in most of the UK, I can't see the money lasting them very long. They were probably anticipating building a big wellness business, able to make all of them extremely wealthy over the coming years.

https://apple.news/AHaGIi7Q8T8iov_WWQ3C92Q

Just for info. we were responsible for two of that number! A few weeks ago I was about to force myself to read my copy of LL (a gift which cost the donor £20 for the hardback version) when DW advised me she had deposited said copy - plus a paperback copy of TWS - with a local charity shop. (Probably Oxfam!)
BTW I was so pleased that I was unable to get to grips with LL as I don't normally read novels.
Somewhat perversely, though, I intend to retain my copy of TSP along with the first Observer piece by Chloe H.

I would have thought the same thing!

Did anyone notice a date being given for the email? I didn't and I can't face listening to the whole thing again just yet.

The Salt Path Scandal – Subtitles of CH’s reading of the ‘Confession’ Memo
Please don’t look any further for the money, I’ve taken it, all of it. The figures that the bank are giving you are correct. Any statements she has had over the last 18 months are fake. I have forged them.
I have to ask you not to take things any further with the bank but to tell them it was a mistake. I have to ask this as I have a police record and should this go any further I will go to prison this time
I can attempt to explain the why. Tim invested half our capital and we lost all the money. As he became more and more depressed, I became desperate to hold him out of it, to keep some of the real Tim alive. I just took the money and paid the bills with it.
If you’d asked me how much I’d taken, I would have said maybe £10,000, so when I was arrested for the theft of £67,000, I was stunned
During this time, in a mad panic, I transferred £25,000 from Tim’s mum and dad’s account to Tim’s.

Pages displayed on screen – only parts of the pages were shown. Sometimes the camera panned across the sentences but often whole sections of the sentences were missing, hence the ….breaks

1. Please don’t look any further for the money, I’ve taken it. All of it. The figures the bank are giving you are correct. I have w….to make some sense of it. If I try to talk to you about it the words won’t come…at least not those that need to be said. I’ve tried so hard to tell someone ov….anything’s wrong.
2. I have to ask you not to take things any further with the bank but to tell them it was a mistake. I have to ask this as I have a police record and should this go any further I will go to prison this time.
3. ….this living nightmare, I started taking money from M….any statement she has had over the last 18 months are fake. I have forged them.
4. Tim is now a little better, on medication, but being…..told he may have Parkinson’s hasn’t helped. I’ve been alone in ….
5. I can attempt to explain the why, ……someone who dealt in property, …..he trusted ….him implicitly and aga…nt invested half our capital in a project…n 2 years. It fell through and we lost all ….ld afford little else. Tim began 7 years of …y, but in the process drove himself to ….As he became more and more depressed,….s, I became desparate to hold him out…..I took over the finances completely, as it became worse and worse, If you’ve known anyone….
6. ….to get the money back. Unsuccessfully ….dge of sanity over what he had done. As h….g between huge ups and even worse downs ….to keep some of the real Tim alive. I took…ng how bad things were made him worse a….epression, you know saying face it and sna….
7. …and somehow things ere….I wrote the first cheque to myself, I felt sick that I’done it. But af….…..it was happening. It became almost an addiction, something….y. I just took the money and paid bills with it. If you’d asked ….have said maybe £10,000. So when I was arrested…£67,000, I was stunned. The duty solicitor said I was looking….systematic fraud. I was bailed to Friday 10th Tim had no idea what was going on …..g of the 10th I left Tim a note, s….

2 definitely follows 1
4 definitely follows 3

Youtube () CH talks about the confession letter
In a mad panic when the bank was threatening to foreclose, I transferred £25,000 from Tim’s Mum’s and dad’s account to Tim’s.
Somehow, somewhere, among this living nightmare, I started taking money from Mum. Any statements she has had over the last 18 months are fake. I have forged them.
This is like something outside of me
It became almost an addiction something I was doing almost unconsciously. When I was arrested on the 8th of October 2008 for the theft of £67,000, I was stunned.
Ends with: It’s of no consolation to you, but this morning, writing this, I feel better than I have for years because I know it’s over.

Much has been discussed about this pair and what personality disorders they might have. I think Sally is a sociopath, there’s enough evidence to suggest this now.
If enough people wrote actual letters of complaint to Penguin, rather than emails which can be bounced into the ether, if they were to receive thousands of complaints they might actually call a meeting between themselves and discuss what to do, what changes to make in the marketing of these books, a disclaimer in the way of a front cover sticker perhaps, an apology, I don’t know but there must be something.

Thank you for that!

As I thought, it's all 'me me me'. All excuses, no reasons and no real apology, just desperate attempts to control the narrative and a huge attempt to shift much of the blame onto Tim (probably not uncalled for).

Ive done some daft stuff in a mad panic, but it’s never involved me stealing £25k, sorry “moved” it to someone else’s bank account without permission.

I have ADHD and very little impulse control and I've done some really stupid, misguided and ridiculous things in my past. But I have also never stolen money from anyone, even at my worst.

Although the hand written letters had been brought along to the meeting, there was no mention of their content. Something for the podcasts maybe?

Also, wondered about the date because of the claim of a Parkinson's diagnosis.

After all it's a "true story of love, war and Everest".

Sounds totally a Walker walk!!! And probably the only thing big enough now to reverse his symptoms!!!!

It's rather sad that I now don't really fully believe any book of this genre. I always knew there was a bit of "fixing" just to tell a good tale, but now I'll always wonder....is any of this true?