The Salt Path, Raynor Winn’s 2018 memoir-cum-reflections on nature, occupied the public’s attention earlier this year. After surprising commercial success and public acclaim, it was made into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs which was released in May.
Two months later, however, investigative journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou set off a bomb underneath Winn’s success and renown. Writing in The Observer, she suggested that much of the narrative was false, and alleged that Winn and her husband Moth had lied, deceived and stolen money on a substantial scale. This was catnip for the public.
We love to see unlikely heroes who have overcome adversity, but there is a delicious moralistic digestif if they are then uncovered as less heroic than we were initially led to believe. Admitting there are good people in the world is not nearly as satisfying as being reminded that many are shameless grifters.
The accusations were serious and detailed. Winn – real name Sally Ann Walker – was alleged to have stolen money from her employer, an estate agency in Pwllheli in North Wales. To repay the money, she had taken a loan from a distant relative which was secured on her house; the relative later transferred the loan to a third party who sued for repayment. It was this loan plus an existing mortgage which led to the Winns’ home being repossessed.
Raynor Winn has now also been accused of stealing money from her in-laws and other relatives. In addition, evidence was presented that Moth Winn’s claim to be suffering from corticobasal degeneration, a progressive neurological condition, did not fit with the known clinical nature of the affliction.
As I wrote in July, Raynor Winn’s response could hardly have been calculated better to keep the story alive and give it a frisson of drama. She denied and dismissed Hadjimatheou’s claims and issued a stinging, mournful response which cast her accusers as mendacious, malignant witch-hunters.
And the saga is coming to life again as Hadjimatheou has made a documentary, The Real Salt Path, for Sky which is released this month. The accusations are laid out in meticulous detail, and the Winns are depicted as unrepentant. The documentary also claims they have relied on denials, defiance and manipulation to avoid any legal consequences.
Winn has been very clear in her denial of the allegations: “I did not steal from family, as others can confirm. Nor have I confessed to doing so… Moth was diagnosed with CBD, now known as CBS, which is an atypical Parkinsonism – this is a fact. We were homeless and we lost our house because of a financial dispute with a lifelong friend, as described in the book.”
I knew someone at university who was heavily involved in student politics and had already picked up the rudiments of the dark arts, and when he found himself in challenging situations, he had a straightforward mantra – lie, lie, lie, deny, cry. Every aspiring public figure will have his or her own foolproof strategy for handling criticism, and it is a logical inevitability that many of them are wrong.
Winn’s approach this summer had the virtue of relative simplicity, in that she offered a strange sorry-not-sorry “apology” thanking “all the readers and viewers who have shared our journey that followed these events, either by reading my book, or watching the film”. It was coupled with an emotional denial of the charges against her but did not seek to present any kind of detailed refutation. Instead, the public was tacitly invited to see the matter as a test of faith: who did you believe? Who sounded more credible, sincere, likeable? In Winn’s words, “as our walk along the Salt Path taught us, when life has ground you into the dirt, you need to stand up, turn your face to the wind, and continue, unafraid. So that is what I must do.”
The problem with this kind of bold strategy is that it is a kind of one-punch deal. Its clarity and emotional appeal are powerful but it presents the same risk as the German high command faced in France in 1914. If your first blow is not a knock-out, you may have lost your only opportunity of victory.
Winn did not land a decisive punch in the summer, leaving enough doubt and a sufficient weight of unanswered questions that the affair has rumbled on through the second half of the year. It has meant that, just as Hadjimatheou picks up the cudgels again with her documentary, the viewing public will have enough peripheral awareness of the row not to need any crammer courses in what it is all about.
It is hard to say who is likely to win. The Salt Path’s tale of misfortune, suffering and hardship followed by personal growth and a sort of neo-hippie, back-to-nature redemption will appeal to many. On the other hand, charges of stealing money from elderly relatives and, especially, allegations that challenge Moth Winn’s claims of ill heath will make others uncomfortable or repelled.
There is a cynical argument that the failure to put the questions raised about The Salt Path to bed has at least ensured that the book remains in the public consciousness and on the tables and shelves of bookshops.
The court of opinion has many qualities in common with trial by jury. It is a very old method of adjudging guilt or innocence, and, like a jury, it can receive any amount of expertise, evidence and advice. But it cannot be directed or told what to do, and it can reach implausible, irrational verdicts. It also carries a heavy collective authority and an appeal to collective justice.
Will the Winns be remembered as sinned against or sinning? Only time will tell, but the nature of Raynor Winn’s defence earlier this year certainly failed to put the record straight. Now she faces round two in television’s highly visible arena. Remember what Oscar Wilde wrote in The Picture of Dorian Grey: “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” Raynor and Moth Winn may have their own views by the end of the year.
Your next read
square TOM BAWDENThat SUV you bought to cruise the high street? It’s about to cost you even more
square GAVIN ESLER Who broke Britain?Dominic Cummings: A human wrecking ball who shows no guilt
square ADAM BOULTONRussia is coming for the UK – and every household must pay for protection
square KATE LISTERI don’t care if you ‘worked hard for your money’, you should pay more tax
Hence then, the article about the salt path author s non apology strategy is making everything worse was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The Salt Path author’s non-apology strategy is making everything worse )
Also on site :