Raynor Winn’s next book has been delayed, her publisher confirmed, after an investigation has cast into doubt on the events of her best-selling memoir The Salt Path.
Winn’s story about her gruelling trek across the English coast with husband Moth has long-been considered a giant of the non-fiction genre. The sharp and poignant tale recounted the couple’s penniless journey across England after losing their home to a “bad investment,” and depicted the couple’s dependance on the kindness of strangers to keep going.
But after selling over two million copies since its March 2018 release and getting a film adaptation with Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs earlier this year, The Salt Path was all called into question over the weekend.
A report by U.K. outlet The Observer that published on Saturday said the Winn’s real names are Sally and Tim Walker, and that the repossession of their home was, in actuality, down to Winn defrauding her former employer of £64,000 ($87,000). She was loaned £100,000 ($136,000) from a relative to avoid a criminal charge, the investigation alleged.
The Winns also had readers in uproar when The Observer said, after talking to medical experts, that Moth’s diagnosis of a terminal illness was unlikely. Raynor Winn had written that symptoms of his corticobasal degeneration (CBD) were improved from the pair’s trek across the English coast, but professionals doubted the validity of this claim given his survival 12 years after first experiencing signs of the disease.
“Given recent events, in particular, intrusive conjecture around Moth’s health condition which has caused considerable distress to Raynor Winn and her family, it is our priority to support the author at this time,” said publisher Penguin Michael Joseph on Friday, according to specialist outlet The Bookseller. “With this in mind, Penguin Michael Joseph, together with the author, have made the decision to delay the publication of On Winter Hill from this October. We will announce a new publication date in due course.”
On Winter Hill, Winn’s fourth book, had been set to publish in October. The Hollywood Reporter has contacted Penguin Michael Joseph for more information.
The Salt Path was based entirely on a true story according to its writer. On Wednesday, she posted an extensive statement, responding in detail to each of the claims made in the initial article.
Among Winn’s response is the provision of letters that seemingly confirmed her husband had been diagnosed with CBD. One of the letters suggested he might have an “atypical form” of the condition or perhaps “an even more unusual disorder.”
“I have charted Moth’s condition with such a level of honesty, that this is the most unbearable of the allegations,” Winn wrote on her website.
She also said that the claims of how the couple lost their house, as told in The Observer‘s piece, are wrong. But the writer admitted she may have made “mistakes” while in the job “For me it was a pressured time,” she wrote. “It was also a time when mistakes were being made in the business. Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry.”
Winn said she was questioned by police but said she wasn’t charged with defrauding her employee. “I reached a settlement with [boss] Martin Hemmings because I did not have the evidence required to support what happened. The terms of the settlement were willingly agreed by both parties.”
On the use of pseudonyms, she explained that “Winn is my maiden name” and Walker her married name. She preferred the first name Raynor to her birth name Sally Ann, she also said, adding that Moth is an abbreviation of Timothy.
THR is yet to receive a response from reps for Anderson, Isaacs, Penguin or Number 9 Films, who adapted the movie. A BBC Film spokesperson declined to comment on the fallout.
