As an avid hiker, I thought this would be the perfect read for me. Unfortunately, I found the pacing a little slow and struggled to keep my attention on the read. It invoked some beautiful images of the coastal walk, but beyond that I struggled to engage with it.

Raynor and her husband Moth lost their farm just days after finding out that Moth was suffering from an incurable, life-limiting illness. With no money, and nowhere to live, the couple made the decision to walk the South West Coast Path - 630 miles through Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Dorset. The Salt Path is the story of that walk – the challenges they faced, the people they met and the things they learnt along the way.

The Salt Path is a heart-wrenching and incredibly touching story. about a middle-aged couple. It is a true story and it read as such. It felt honest and raw. The couple loses everything (house, money) and then discovers that Moth has a terminal illness, but in the face of adversity, they stick together, teaching the reader that love is the most valuable thing on earth. 1 took one star off, because sometimes the pacing felt a bit slow.

Having a bad day? Feeling sorry for yourself? Read this gorgeous true story and I can guarantee you will be grateful for your lot in life. Moth had just received a diagnosis of terminal cancer when he and his wife, Raynor lost their home and their business. They literally had nothing but what they could carry. With almost no money, the couple makes a decision to leave what’s left of their life behind to walk the South West Coast Path from Somerset to Dorset, a total of over 600 miles. Their trip is filled with little moments of serendipitous beauty, the kindness of strangers, bravery in the face of adversity and the power of nature to both heal and comfort. This beautiful book had me giving my husband an extra hug and thanking my lucky stars for all that I have. A must read

For me this book never really left the post. I felt like I had to force myself to read it. There are some heartwarming moments but I think the pacing, although based on true facts, was too slow for me. I just found it didn't keep my interest.
The writing is accomplished and well researched but for me , the story didn't grip me

I found this book confusing but intriguing. I felt like I never quite got a hold of what was going on but that was likely the author's intention.

The Salt Path is a non-fiction novel about how Raynor Winn and her husband Moth lose their home and pretty much the entirety of their income and with nowhere to go, decide to start walking the South West Coast Path.

This should have been a refreshing but emotional read for me but unfortunately it just completely fell flat for me. I’m not sure if it was that I was just not in the right frame of mind when reading this but I definitely felt like I would have a stronger emotional connection to the story and I just didn’t.

I did like the parts in this story that really struck me, normally when Raynor and Mort were treated differently when people realised they were actually homeless and not people who had sold their home to go out on the road. The attitudes they met really made me think about how maybe I would act in the same situation and how I would treat people. I also really felt for Raynor and Mort in the way they really had to count every penny - they were surviving on nothing and even thinking about being in that situation is terrifying.

Unfortunately by the time I reached halfway through this book, my interest and concentration in the story just completely panned out and I ended up skim reading the last chunk of it because I just wanted it to be over. It may have been some of the over descriptive passages about the coast trail they were following, and some of the historical bits that I don’t think we needed to know but none of that was particularly gripping unless the reader is someone planning to make the same trip/has made that trip.

A great one for people who love walking, especially those walking the English and Welsh coastlines.

This book brings back some fabulous memories. We currently have done just over half of the path - not wild camping i hasten to add. Ray's account feels very true to what we have experienced. However, the book is more than the walk there is the struggle with an incurable disease and homelessness, together it makes for a great read that should appeal to a wide variety of people - it doesn't matter whether they have set foot on the path or not. I loved the bits around mistaken identity, Hartland point brought back memories of a walk in a force 8 gale and the whole was beautifully portrayed

This is an amazing thought provoking story. Ray and Moth lose everything. They are left homeless and jobless. This is the story of their bravery. How they kept going when they had nothing. It is an inspirational story about their walk and how it helped them through tough times. It makes you think about your perspective and feelings towards homeless people. It shows how quickly you could be left with nothing. Ray and Moth were definitely brave in how they handled their lives.

This is the inspirational, and moving, true story of a couple's determination to stay positive in the face of adversity. Faced with homelessness, through what appears to be no real fault of their own, they decide to walk the South West Coastal Path. Raynor, the author, and Moth, her husband, have little money but still manage to find happiness in the little things that happen along the way. They meet a whole array of people, with mixed reactions to their plight but carry on regardless. They face many difficulties, the weather being a regular problem and seem to see each obstacle and setback as a challenge. They refuse to be beaten. I really enjoyed this book, not just for the resilience of the couple but also the fabulous descriptions of the coastal path they walked. Highly recommended.Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ebook for review.

This is an account of how Raynor and her husband Moth survive losing their home, business and income.

Whilst many would curl up and suffer, Raynor and Moth pack up their rucksacks and walk the South West Coast Path.

What follows is a wonderful, honest account of coming to terms with their life. Moth is terminally ill and homeless. They find survive on noodles and hot water and living in a tent. Yet their hope for a better future, and their love for each other makes this an enriching novel to read. There sensitivity to their position, and realisation of the stigmas attached to being homeless is eye-opening.

This novel is still with, and will remain for a good while yet.

Raynor Winn: The Salt Path - An Uplifting true tale. 9780241349649. Michael Joseph/ Penguin Random House, Hardback

“The Salt Path” is one of the most inspiring books I have read in a very long time. A tribute to endurance, perseverance, love and the human spirit, it is also incredibly well written, I cannot believe this is Ray’s first book and I am not surprised this has become a Sunday Times bestseller.
When Raynor Winn and her husband Moth (yes, that is his real name), both just 50, lose their farm in Wales, their savings and literally everything they own due to a bad business decision into a longtime friends firm, they find themselves homeless after court fights have failed eating up their last resources. That is enough to bring most people to their knees. But within 7 days of the court order to evacuate their home, Moth is given a diagnosis of a terminal illness, an incurable rare neurological disorder which eventually affects muscles and all organ control. With nowhere to go, social services having failed them and having to subside on a tax refund payment of 48 GBP a week for both, they make the impulsive decision to walk the South West Coastal Path hiking from Minehead to Poole, Somerset to Dorset, and Devon to Cornwell.
Weak, unfit, one of them in constant pain, with no prospects, they start putting one foot in front of another, battling heat, sunburns, blisters, sore muscles, torrential rains, wind, and wild camping at night. Most week’s rice and noodles are their stable diet, cooked on a camping stove. Their unbelievable life story hooked me immediately; I hiked and suffered with them in spirit, sometimes not knowing how on earth they persevered. What touched me the most was the love and bond between them, the only thing they had to fall back onto after a life of 32 years. Having lost all material riches, this richness carried them through the worst moments and situations. It is a heart breaking story, life affirming, a tale of the healing power of nature and a testament to what humans can endure if there is love and belief. I really took them into my heart desperately hoping there is a cure for Moth and a good life now for them both. The royalty payments for this book should help.

A glorious book - everyone should read it. And then go for a walk.

This is the ultimate in 'stop feeling sorry for yourself and get on with it'. Raynor and Moth lose their family house and then receive a terminal diagnosis on Moth's health within a few days. They are knocked sideways but rather than throw the towel in, wait for a council house or just wallow in self pity they pack their rucksacks and set off to walk the South West coastal path.

With only a tent and no money this couple walk the hilly, windswept cliffs of Devon and Cornwall. I loved the descriptions of the countryside and sea, as well as some of the people that they met on their travels.

The stigma of homelessness is pondered, there are the statistics, the grim reality of being cold and hungry as well as the reaction of other people towards homelessness. A great read and I wish Raynor and Moth all the best in their next steps.

This book has turned out to be one of the most unexpected and surprising literary pleasures of the year so far. I must admit that I was expecting a standard walking or travel memoir, nice descriptive images of the landscape and nature with a few amusing anecdotes along the way but this book is far more than that for it's central theme is one of the stains that blight our so called civilised society, homelessness. The author is Raynor Winn who along with her husband Moth are evicted from their home and farm after what appears to be a questionable legal process. If this is not enough to cope with it is then discovered that Moth her husband for the past 32 years has an incurable degenerative illness. Despite being told by the Doctor that Moth should take it easy and not over do it they decide to embark and complete the 630 mile long South West Coast path from Minehead to Poole Harbour.

With little money and carrying the minimum requirements on their backs together with a walking guide that laughably underestimates the time it takes and copy of Seamus Heaney's Beuwolf this life changing journey commences. They aim to rough camp along the way. The writing is so descriptive that one can almost hear the crashing of the waves and the smell the salty sea air. There are many humorous moments not least when during the early stages Moth is continually mistaken for Simon Armitage who was somewhat bizarrely also tackling the same coastal path at that time. Not all their encounters were pleasant for some people would often shy away from them and make their excuses and leave when they were informed that the couple were homeless. According to Shelter the real number of homeless in the UK is around 300,000.00 that's one person in every 200 and includes people sleeping rough, in temporary housing, hostels or on a friend's couch and if nothing else your opinion of this subject may change after reading the book.

This is a beautifully written love story and at times it is quite painful to read but there is a very uplifting ending which is testament to the power of the human spirit and to the fact that lives can be rebuilt and things can change. A must read for those who like being taken on a journey in a physical and spiritual sense.

This was a compelling, thought-provoking and profoundly moving book.

Raynor's husband Moth is given a devastating health diagnosis, and within days, the couple lose their home & business. Left with nothing, they decide to walk the South West Coast Path, covering over 600 miles through Dorset, Devon and Cornwall.

This beautifully-written account of the highs and lows of their journey, of their joys, their fears and discoveries, is both poignant and hopeful. Raynor has a sharp eye for both the natural world and the human: one minute describing dolphins at play, the next turning her attention to how society treats its homeless, effortlessly carrying us with her throughout.

This will (rightly) appeal to fans Robert Macfarlane's "The Old Ways" - but The Salt Path is so much more than an account of the couple's walk. It's an exploration of their relationship, their lives and their dreams and doubts. This is a book with real heart and soul, and a testament to love and hope.

This heart warming book follows the journey of Ray and Moth, a middle aged couple who have lost their home and are backpacking 630 miles along the South West Coast Path. A tribute to the human spirit, neither disability age nor poverty stop them achieving what for them is a life changing decision. Beautifully written, vividly described scenery, I felt I was taking every step with them. Highly Recommended.

This is a memoir, following a middle aged couple, Ray and Moth, as they lose their family home in a complex legal battle and Moth receives the devastating diagnosis of a terminal illness. With not much left to lose, they embark upon a 630 mile backpacking adventure along the South West Coast Path, with only the barest of essentials and minimal money.
This book was absolutely stunning, deeply personal and highly emotional. I was in tears from the first couple of pages. The author's writing is sublime, her depictions of the scenery, weather, the nature and people they meet along the way are beautiful and realistic and so different every time. It's almost like being there with them.
Despite the reasons for Ray and Moth undertaking this 'escape', this book is anything but melancholic or mournful; rather it is completely uplifting and inspirational. I fell in love with them both and would love to sit with them, enjoying a cone of chips or a pasty, out of the view of the seagulls!
I highly recommend this book.

I absolutely loved this and am in awe of Raynor Winn for having survived what she has. The cover and the mention of walking the South West Coastal Path is what drew me to read this book, it turned out to be a very different book to the one I thought it would be. Moth and Ray ,a couple since their teens,lose their home and livelihood at a time in life when many are looking forward to slowing down a bit ,then comes devasting news. Ray’s solution to the news she is in denial about is to walk the South West Coastal Path carrying what they can and wild camping along the way..This is the story of how they did just that ,barely surviving at times but managing to come to terms with what had happened and what was likely to happen next. More than that it is a testament to how society views and treats those who are homeless. At times uplifting ,there are some lovely people out there , at others a sad reflection on a society that values “ stuff” and money above compassion and experience. The writing draws you in with its lyrical insights into nature but it is not a travel guide more an inspirational self help one.