Thread 27 : To feel disappointed - and disgusted and vindicated now too - after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film?

[DisappointedReader]

NO POSTS PLEASE UNTIL THREAD 26 IS FULL

Please see the OP of Thread 25 for all the links to The Observer's reporting and podcast series, our threads one to 24 and so on:
Thread 25 : To feel disappointed - and disgusted and vindicated now too - after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film? | Mumsnet

New posters joining us in the genuine spirit of our civil discourse are always welcome. It would be helpful to get the background from some of Investigative Journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou's excellent exposé items before posting. Chloe's podcast series for The Observer 'The Walkers' covers most things:
The Walkers: The real Salt Path | The Observer
Another suggestion:
BBC Sounds - Secrets of the Salt Path - Available Episodes
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, especially where details are unclear or still emerging. Remember, even Hollywood rabbits attract the odd flea: please do not engage with drive-by scolders 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. For nearly a year we have done amazingly well together for 26 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.

We are still here after 26,000 posts and fast approaching our one year anniversary together on 6th July 2026, 12 months on from the start of our first thread in response to Our Chloe's somewhat stunning initial exposé. Little did we know what else would come out. Our longevity comes as both a total surprise and a pleasure (mostly!). We've seen charabancers come and go, come back again, delurk and join us for the first time. All are welcome. Threads have both filled up in a day and moved at a more stately pace. Thank you everyone for sharing your time, thoughts, opinions, experience, questions, sleuthing (there's that word!), kindness (there's that other word!) and great humour with me and with each other. As ever, as we embark on our 27th thread riding the community charabanc - this time all holding our brollies and fans aloft for much-needed shade and breeze - keep to the path, no saltiness, eat fudge and drink cider, (but not too much in the current heatwave).

NO POSTS PLEASE UNTIL THREAD 26 IS FULL:
www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5506717-thread-26-to-feel-disappointed-and-disgusted-and-vindicated-now-too-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?

The millennial devil?

Exactly! Just think of all the demonic capital that could be saved if they just stopped playing with it and went back to basic evil laughter and leading the good astray.

I agree. I’ve seen this one (ironic beard, bun, tatty jumper and all of Apple’s latest) lurking in the corners of little independent coffee shops for hours. It’s starting to make you feel a certain affinity … with ….. her… 😱 !!

An interesting thought - but now l I wonder if "offset the weight" actually meant something far more simple in Raynor's writing mind rather than some erudite, albeit off-the-mark, nod to Robinson Crusoe. I suggest it was merely meant as off setting the physical weight of the book they now had to carry, which would imply they were already carrying pebbles to swap out the weight. She did write at some other point they carried fossils. A strange habit to carry extra unnecessary weight with no prospect of putting these mementos anywhere given they had no home. But then again, we now know they had places to stay and their walks were more like holidays.

Yes, quite @YourMoneyforFrothingandYourChipsforFree … awful faux humility being shown there. I’ve lost all my possessions (not) so here’s my precious gift to you, a beach pebble (not supposed to take these either but hey-ho) and the last few mouldering coins from my purse in exchange for Robinson Crusoe which is a fictional character we can identify with as we shuffle along The Path being booted and sent spinning out of the way by Yompers (aka other people on holiday who like walking).

This is also an interesting option.

I mean, if they are carrying pebbles, those are optional pebbles. They aren't obliged to carry a certain number of weight of pebbles around with them. So why bother to note that you are offsetting the weight of a paperback by leaving behind a pebble (that you were carrying for some bizarre reason of your own)?

And wouldn't the weight of the 'pennies' they left offset the weight of a paperback anyway? Books aren't THAT heavy.

If it was just 10p worth of pennies then the book would weigh a fair bit more. Whatever it was, it is classic RW trying to present themselves as homeless bohemian children of nature without any more pennies to spare. Kind of odd purchase seeing as they had such little money they had to eat a hairy wine gum...oh wait, sorry, it was mostly made up.

Yes, it's odd how they are so poor that they have to steal fudge, yet they 'leave pennies' for a book. What makes the book worth more than fudge? Did they pay the full 10p or just a token amount?

Sal, I suspect, trying to make them look erudite (I very very much doubt that every other book there was 'trash', but she couldn't admit to taking a copy of Jilly Cooper's 'Riders' and a book of Giles cartoons, could she? FAR too lowbrow...) is behind this more than anything else.

IIRC, remember I haven't read TSP, they don't get to reading Crusoe but when they get to St Ives they swap it for two warm jumpers? You would have thought Tim would have got very warm going back for Beowulf - steep up that part of the coast path to the sneaky-behind-the-hedge pitch. Isn't it all so inspirational ... not ... Am I just the tired old cynic?

The idea of them carrying bags of rocks around for the hell of it feeds even more into the martyred fantasy 😀
I wonder what Sally Walker regards as ‘trashy’ and what a cheek!

Exactly. If she calls any of my books 'trashy' she'll have a fight on her hands! I was accused of literature once!

If there is such a fight we’ll stage it like a Jane Austen country dance at first with both of you smiling through gritted teeth and a few pages later Jackie Collins can collaborate and finish it off with a charabanc full of women dressed in 1920s Sunday best charging through a mountain of unsold copies of TSP 😀

I see on X that Alexandra Pringle was on R4 this morning drawing a distinction between strictly factual autobiography and memoir:
"A memoir is a work of literature that is verging on fiction and you can't necessarily expect it to be a factual day-by-day or yearly account of somebody's life." I imagine this is how SW's publisher and editors are justifying her 'inaccuracies.'

Then they need to take down all the comments about the 'unflinching truth' of it and lean more into the 'recollections may vary' tagline. Or shelve it as fiction.

Can it really be even a 'memoir' when it's full of flat, outright and provable lies? That goes away from 'my truth' and far more into complete fabrication.

@MrKippling did the Works copy of TSP have all the original ‘unflinchingly honest’ guff written on it? I’m hoping they had the good sense and decency to rewrite the synopsis.

I think if publishers are going to use 'unflinching truth' as a selling point, they ought to back it up with some basic fact checking.

An unpleasant story of historic abuse - the relevance here is that it was Our Chloe who gave a voice to the abused. The podcast 'Lucky Boy', Tortoise Media, then was listened to by someone who suggested OC as the investigative journalist to inform about Sally and Tim Walker.

Finchley teacher of indecent assaults against two pupils - BBC News

I read this interesting article in The Guardian over the weekend, regarding publishing and the methods used to influence the public's book buying, some very interesting points on cover art, plot summaries on the back cover, bookshop product placement and cover endorsement comments.

I must be blocking my memory of reading TSP, as I had totally forgotten the Robinson Crusoe paperback bit.

I'll hold my hands up and freely admit my memory of Robinson Crusoe is totally based on the 1964 French/German TV version The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.

There is an interesting Radio 4 documentary about the making of and impact of the television series Robinson Crusoe Rescued Again (if you type those terms into your search engine, it will retrieve the documentary uploaded onto YouTube) (I don't know if MN would let me post that link!) On listening to the documentary
I was reassured to hear that the presenter found Defoe's book as unreadable as I did (I didn't feel so bad on hearing that)

Remembering the TV series the plot theme was Crusoe's fall and redemption, he has to fall to be redeemed. From my memory: Crusoe is a day dreamer, who rejects his father's wishes and runs away to sea, only to end up being sold as a slave. After escaping from being a slave Crusoe life events lead him to becoming a plantation owner, when he then ends up becoming a slaver. On then journeying on one of his ships Crusoe is then ship wrecked on an island, where he is forced to fend for himself and become self-sufficient. On rescuing Friday from the cannibals Crusoe then treats Friday as his inferior and his slave. When Crusoe and Friday fallout it results in them loosing a chance of being rescued. When Crusoe and Friday are reconciled and realise they are mutually co-dependent, they are successful when they rescue a ships captain from mutineers who are trying to strand the captain on their island. Having learned valuable life lessons Crusoe becomes a better person on leaving the island.

Part of me thinks SW using picking up the Robinson Crusoe paperback is intentional, it ties in with her fall and redemption narrative in TSP. SW and TW's 'truth' of their fall (being cheated out of their house) and the redemption of the long distance walk and the realisation that all SW and TW needed was each other! Which of course we all know is complete fiction. SW has either glossed over of denied her real falls of embezzlement, theft, lies and deceit. The redemption she has had has not being a spiritual one, but a financial one, and to have enough insta-fans giving her positive ego strokes via flattering messages.

TSP now showing in the US

‘The Salt Path’ is a lesson in what we want to believe

Thanks. Well I think they've 'got' it, it has taken us 27 threads:

The effectiveness of any con rests on its ability to hijack the audience’s emotions, pushing logic and skepticism out the window. And Winn’s tale captures middle-aged hopes and fears around health, finances, love and success.

I'm having another go at posting a reply to the question regarding whether or not the new TSP paperback is the same as the original TSP paperback. My original post is still being reviewed my MNHQ (I didn't think I has posted anything contentious)

Yes, it is. The comments on the front cover are the same. The copywriter's summary is exactly the same. The only comment that is missing from the new paperback is the one from the FT.

The new cover art is by Gill Williams. I did included a link to Gill's website, so everyone on this thread could see her work (I don't know if that is why my post is hidden) If you have a look a Gill's artwork on her website and look at murmuration the artwork looks like the artwork for OWH.

@MrKippling Testing, testing. You are right the link to this artist has been hidden (I merely posted the link). How strange ....