LONDON (AP) \u2014 \u201cThe Salt Path\u201d is a memoir of resilience and courage that captured the hearts of millions and was subsequently adapted for the big screen, with actors Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs taking the lead roles. <\/p>\n
But now, the book and the film are mired in a controversy that could see them suffer that very modern phenomenon \u2014 being canceled.<\/p>\n
On Friday, publisher Penguin Michael Joseph agreed with author Raynor Winn to delay the publication of her next book, \u201cOn Winter Hill\u201d from this October after \u201cintrusive conjecture\u201d about her husband\u2019s health.<\/p>\n
The delay is the latest blowback from a bombshell report in Sunday\u2019s The Observer newspaper in the United Kingdom that claimed there was more to the 2018 book than met the eye \u2014 that key elements of the story had been fabricated. <\/p>\n
Author Raynor Winn stands accused of betraying the trust of her readers and of reaping a windfall on the back of lies. Winn accepts \u201cmistakes\u201d were made, but that the overarching allegations were \u201chighly misleading.\u201d She has sought legal counsel. <\/p>\n
The book<\/p>\n
Winn\u2019s book tells how she and her husband of 32 years, Moth Winn \u2014 a well-to-do couple \u2014 made the impulsive decision to walk the rugged 630 miles (around 1,000 kilometers) of the South West Coast Path in the southwest of England after losing their house because of a bad business investment. <\/p>\n
Broke and homeless, the memoir relays how the couple achieved spiritual renewal during their trek, which lasted several months and which saw them carry essentials and a tent on their back.<\/p>\n
The book also recounts how Moth Winn was diagnosed with the extremely rare and incurable neurological condition, corticobasal degeneration, or CBD, and how his symptoms had abated following the walk.<\/p>\n
It sold 2 million copies, became a regular read at book clubs, spawned two sequels and the film adaptation, which was released this spring, to generally positive reviews. <\/p>\n
On its website, publisher Penguin described the book as \u201can unflinchingly honest, inspiring and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world. Ultimately, it is a portrayal of home, and how it can be lost, rebuilt, and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.\u201d <\/p>\n
That statement was released before the controversy that erupted last Sunday.<\/p>\n
The controversy<\/p>\n
In a wide-ranging investigation, The Observer said that it found a series of fabrications in Raynor Winn\u2019s tale. It said the couple\u2019s legal names are Sally and Timothy Walker, and that Winn misrepresented the events that led to the couple losing their home. <\/p>\n
The newspaper said that the couple lost their home following accusations that Winn had stolen tens of thousands of pounds from her employer. It also said that the couple had owned a house in France since 2007, meaning that they weren\u2019t homeless.<\/p>\n
And perhaps more damaging, the newspaper said that it had spoken to medical experts who were skeptical about Moth having CBD, given his lack of acute symptoms and his apparent ability to reverse them.<\/p>\n
The book\u2019s ability to engender empathy from its readers relied on their personal circumstances. Without those hooks, it\u2019s a very different tale.<\/p>\n
The response<\/p>\n
As a writer of what was represented as a true story, Winn had to attest to her publisher that the book was a fair and honest reflection of what transpired. <\/p>\n
Any memoir may have omissions or hazy recollections. <\/p>\n
But making things up is a clear no-no.<\/p>\n
In the immediate aftermath, Winn made a brief comment on her website about the \u201chighly misleading\u201d accusations and insisted that the book \u201clays bare the physical and spiritual journey Moth and I shared, an experience that transformed us completely and altered the course of our lives. This is the true story of our journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
She fleshed out her response on Wednesday, describing the previous few days have been \u201csome of the hardest of my life,\u201d while acknowledging \u201cmistakes\u201d in her business career.<\/p>\n
She also linked documents appearing to show Moth had been diagnosed with CBD, and described how the accusations that Moth made up his illness have left them \u201cdevastated.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the allegations were published, Penguin said it undertook \u201cthe necessary pre-publication due diligence,\u201d and that prior to The Observer story, it hadn\u2019t received any concerns about the book\u2019s content.<\/p>\n
The long-term <\/p>\n
It\u2019ll be interesting to see how the book\u2019s sales and the film\u2019s box office receipts are affected by the controversy. Those should start emerging in the coming days.<\/p>\n
In addition, there are questions now as to whether the film will find a U.S. distributor and whether Winn, in particular, will face compensation claims, potentially even from readers.<\/p>\n
Winn was meant to be in the western England town of Shrewsbury on Friday on the Saltlines tour, a \u201cwords and music collaboration\u201d between her and folk band The Gigspanner Big Band.<\/p>\n
Her legal team said that Winn is \u201cdeeply sorry to let down those who were planning to attend the Saltlines tour, but while this process is ongoing, she will be unable to take part.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON (AP) \u2014 \u201cThe Salt Path\u201d is a memoir of resilience and courage that captured the hearts of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":61003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[1022,36029,64,171,57,44051,210,598,1165,6217,67,132,68,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-61002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-books-and-literature","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-gillian-anderson","14":"tag-health","15":"tag-jason-isaacs","16":"tag-lifestyle","17":"tag-nonfiction","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114843306222091147","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}