Salt Path
Raynor Winn

Narrated By: Raynor Winn

Duration: 9 hours and 2 minutes

What to expect

Bring nature into your home with the uplifting true story of the couple who lost everything and embarked on a journey of salvation across the South West coastline, brought to you by Penguin.

Just days after Raynor Winn learns that Moth, her husband of 32 years, is terminally ill, their home is taken away and they lose their livelihood.
With nothing left and little time, they make the brave and impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of the sea-swept South West Coast Path.
Carrying only the essentials for survival on their backs, they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea and sky. Yet through every step, their walk becomes a remarkable journey.
The Salt Path is an honest and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world.

Read by author Raynor Winn, this deeply felt, personal tale is a beacon of universal strength.

'A beautiful, thoughtful, lyrical story of homelessness, human strength and endurance'Guardian

'The landscape is magical: shape-shifting seas and smugglers' coves; myriads of sea birds and mauve skies. It's a tale of triumph: of hope over despair; of love over everything' Sunday Times

'An astonishing narrative of two people dragging themselves from the depths of despair along some of the most dramatic landscapes in the country and ultimately finding themselves' Independent

Genre

Memoirs, Walking, hiking, trekking, Housing & homelessness, Coping with illness & specific health conditions, Biography & non-fiction prose

Listen to a sample

An uplifting tale

A fabulous read, inspiring and life-affirming. If you're not already walking the coastal path, this book will make you want to set-off immediately. It is a hymn to the power of love, sear-air and the natural beauty of Cornwall to heal and nurture. It's an absolute joy

Moving and beautifully evocative

An inspirational true story

Ray's account of their incredible journey is a tale of triumph, of hope over despair

The Salt Path pummelled me like Atlantic winds. It carried me along on a rain-soaked, sun-burnt, despair-infused, hope-driven walk. The writing is at times raw, poetic, funny, shocking. It is consistently honest, vulnerable, clear. I finished the book reminded of the importance of really hearing people's stories, of the healing power of the natural world, and of our individual and collective now.

Filled with wry humour, this is a wonderfully uplifting and touching book

A triumph of love and hope and giving oneself up to the healing power of nature. Beautifully written with vivid imagery, what a heart-warming and glorious read

Vivid . . .This is a book essentially about hope, but also about sheer gritty determination not to give in, to survive extreme discomfort, danger and sometimes disillusionment

This is a wonderful, heart-gladdening, life-affirming read. It will make you want to walk. What a gem.

A gem of a book

An exquisite piece of writing

A remarkable account of the healing power of landscape and the resilience of the human spirit. I felt the rain on my face and heard the waves pounding on the sand.

It's a heart-warming, heart-wrenching story, told by Raynor in vivid yet plain prose. There are so many wonderful passages

We walk with Ray and Moth every step of the way, sharing the hunger, exhaustion, blazing heat and freezing rain in an account that is both lyrical and inspirational

The most inspirational book of this year . . . In some ways The Salt Path reads like the ultimate drop-out odyssey, except that this journey isn't a life choice . . . What the book chiefly conveys is the human capacity for endurance and the regenerative power of nature . . . The Salt Path also serves as a reminder that Britain is a land criss-crossed by footpaths and that we take this 140,000-mile national glory for granted at our peril . . . The Salt Path has reminded me to scrape last year's mud from my walking boots and get rambling again. I hope it has the same impact on millions of others.

An inspirational and lyrically observed memoir on the regenerative power of walking in nature, as well as a reminder that material things are much less important than we sometimes think. If you love the landscape of the British coastline and are drawn to the philosophies of mindfulness and minimalism, this is a moving and reflective book to read during a break from your everyday life

A moving true story

Uplifting and inspirational

An extraordinary memoir - moving, funny and uplifting

Poignant . . . It's far from a book without hope, and you'll be with Raynor and Moth every step of their walk along the South West Coast Path

The Salt Path is a life-affirming tale of enduring love that smells of the sea and tastes of a rich life. With beautiful, immersive writing, it is a story heart-achingly and beautifully told.

This is what you need to read right now to muster hope and resilience. A beautiful story and a reminder that humans can endure adversity

A beautiful ode to how nature can soothe and inspire hope with every step . . . this book is really special

The Salt Path broke my heart and put it back together again over and over. Beautiful writing, and such a sharp eye - both for nature and for people. It's hopeful and sad and honest and I LOVED it.

What an absolutely glorious and moving book. It deserves all its praise!

A life-affirming story that examines grief and the power of nature

An astonishing narrative of two people dragging themselves from the depths of despair along some of the most dramatic landscapes in the country, looking for a solution to their problems and ultimately finding themselves.

Radiant, soaring, heartstring-tugging

A thoughtful, lyrical story of homelessness, strength and endurance

This beautiful, meditative book should give us all a sense of our possible braveries: offering us an answer to the "what if?" questions - "what if we lost absolutely everything, what would we do?" . . . An extraordinary testament to love, hope and resilience.

Beautiful, sad, erudite and uplifting

By turns inspirational and horrifying . . . [Winn] writes with a detail and a joy that tugs at the reader, lifting this beyond a mere travel memoir and all the privations and hardship to be something truly meaningful

The landscape is magical, shape-shifting seas and smugglers' coves; myriad sea birds and mauve skies . . . It's a tale of triumph: of hope over despair; of love over everything . . . home was no longer about bricks and mortar. It was a state of mind

You lost me a whole night's work. This is a great read.

Inspirational

A remarkable and redemptive journey

Raynor's writing is beautiful. It's a heart-wrenching read at times, but you won't be able to put it down

Mesmerising. It is one of the most uplifting, inspiring books that I've ever read

An inspirational nature memoir for fans of H is for Hawk about losing everything and finding yourself between the elements of sea and sky

A beautiful, thoughtful, lyrical story of homelessness, human strength and endurance