The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Not salty enough!

We selected this book on the back of its many accolades (Shortlisted for the COSTA book awards and 4.6 stars on Amazon UK with 1060 reviews) and the promise of an uplifting story about shared interests in homelessness, transition, camping, Cornwall, and health. 

The story has a powerful beginning when life suddenly falls apart for the author, Ray, and her husband, Moth.  The couple, in their early fifties with two student children, are dealt a shocking and sudden double blow.  They lose their home, their savings, their possessions and their income around the same time that Moth is diagnosed with a rare degenerative and progressive neurological condition.

Forced to break free from their comfortable life and facing an uncertain future, the couple eschew mainstream solutions and decide to spend the summer walking the 630 mile long South West Coast Path.  The rest of the book tells how, armed with only what they can carry on their back and relying on minimal income in the form of basic state benefits, they steadily complete the long Salt Path.  It is a tale of sleeping rough (a.k.a. wild camping); eating very little other than noodles, hot water and fudge; the kindness of strangers and betrayal by friends; the hostility of the British marine climate especially in the winter, and homelessness in South West England in the 21^st century.

It is Ray’s first book and she writes well.  Her prose vividly depicts the daily grind and hardship of their existence.  But as we turned the pages, the Sunday Times promise of “A tale of triumph: hope over despair; of love over everything” did not quite materialise.  This disappointment was compounded by little attempt to portray the beauty of the South West coast,  the practicalities of walking the famous Salt Path, and some of the controversial choices made by the couple.  The first half of their journey is described in considerably more detail than the second and it is unlikely that, if you have not visited Falmouth or Penzance, you will be any clearer about these and many other famous South West towns.
 

To be fair, this is not a guide book, and Winn frequently acknowledges that such a book has already been well written by  Paddy Dillon.  But it also fell flat as an enduring, classic tale of transition. If there are lessons to learn from this story, we could not easily unravel them.  Frustratingly, having completed our own page by page trek, we were none the wiser about loss, love, life, or, indeed, the South West coast.  We did however recognise the importance of decent sleeping bags when camping rough. 

We were not tempted to light the Primus stove and boil up some noodles, and instead we dined at   The Rat Inn at Anick.  If you are in the area  (camping, hiking, or simply living),  we can highly recommend the quality of the food and the service.  

Sadly, this unreserved recommendation does not extend to the Salt Path.
 

Our next read takes us into the NHS and the daily trials and tribulations of a junior doctor specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology.