Even if you didn't read the report in 'The Observer' last Sunday, you're unlikely to have missed the story that a best-sellng book, and film, which was marketed as 'unflinchingly honest' is actually less so.
The revelations regarding Raynor Winn, the author of 'The Salt Path' have been covered extensively throughout the media all week, with further details today in 'The Observer' claiming that events in the second book 'Landlines' were also not as they were presented by the author.
Consistently topping the charts since it was published in 2018, 'The Salt Path' tells the story of Raynor Winn and her husband Moth. After learning they are to lose their home when an investment in a friend's company failed, and then finding that Moth has a degenerative and terminal illness, they decide to go for a walk. This turns out to be a 600 mile hike along the South West Coast Path, a journey which transforms them and proves an uplifting, inspiring and encouraging read for millions.
The couple has enjoyed phenomenal success, and wealth, since that first book - subsequent books continuing their story have all sold well, there's been the film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs released this summer and Raynor Winn has also been drawing crowds fronting the Gigspanner Band with the Saltlines tour of music and words.
But many people will now feel duped and let down by the revelations in the newspaper article.
So what is the mistake here? Was it naivety, or deception, from the author thinking that no one would check the veracity of the book? If the book hadn't been presented as a true story would it have had the same impact? Isn't the point of the story that when life is stripped back we realise what is important? Would we have forgiven, or accepted, the author if she had been honest about the mistakes she had made from the outset rather than concealing them? Did the author make false, misleading claims about her husband's illness?
And what was the publisher's responsibility here? I think we all believe that there are due processes in place to ensure a book is accurate and true, whether that is an academic tome, a memoir or even a work of fiction. But the pressures of time and money have led to corners being cut and, when we are increasingly aware of 'fake news' and AI generated stories, it is worrying if we can't rely on books to have undergone rigorous checks or to be what they claim to be.
There are many things to consider here, and we are likely to learn more in the coming weeks. Are there still everlasting truths we can hold on to, even if the individual players prove to be fallible? What is left when the trust is gone?
Thank you for reading.