Litsy

I've read a fair number of articles about this controversy, but this is the first one that addresses the ableism of it all. It's worth the read.

https://lithub.com/nature-is-not-going-to-cure-you-on-raynor-winns-fabricated-me...

shortsarahrose Thanks for sharing this article! I have not read The Salt Path or heard about the controversy, but I am always down to read a solid critique of ableist discourse. I might have to read some of Polly Atkin‘s own work now. 21h

IriDas Thanks. I will enjoy this thoroughly. I‘ve been trying to tell people this when I was in academia and they would just throw supposed research that proves their point, while never questioning what sorts of people were included and excluded in the research. Now we‘ve got some sh*t head (RFK,jr) saying we need to send our autistic children to “camps” and “farms” to cure them. 20h

lil1inblue @shortsarahrose You're most welcome! I added 2 of Polly Atkin's books to my TBR after reading the article. I really appreciated this perspective. 20h

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lil1inblue @IriDas 🙌 🙌 🙌 20h

ChaoticMissAdventures Thank you! I was reading an article about their lies that started with why they actually lost their house and I realized "Moth" was still making appearances and how unbelievable that would be. I had not realized until then how long ago they started pulling this scam. 20h

squirrelbrain When the news first broke in the UK there were stories of people with the same condition that Moth supposedly had, who had been given hope by reading his story - so sad. 😞 19h

Suet624 Great article. Thank you for sharing it with us. 17h

Kitta @IriDas I work as a scientist and we spend years learning how to properly read and understand research papers - the content but also who is writing, who was studied, the conflicts of interest! It‘s so important and not something others are trained to do. I‘m not saying they shouldn‘t read the papers but they need to understand research in context. It frustrates me when I see people citing that awful Wakefield paper about vaccines & autism. 😡 15h

Kitta The more I read about this book the more angry I get. 15h

Deblovestoread Thanks for this. I was interested in the book until seeing the controversy. Now interested in supporting Polly Atkin instead. 💙 12h

IriDas @Kitta university was where I realized that far too many of my profs, including a physicist with a PhD, didn‘t take that lesson seriously enough. 11h

Kitta @IriDas 😢 that sucks. It‘s so necessary. 8h

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ChaoticMissAdventures

The Salt Path | Raynor Winn

An article I just found from last month.
I think this brings up an interesting topic.
Honestly in Nonfiction
How much do you expect to be truthful in a personal book

What could (should?) happen when it is revealed an author is being disingenuous?

I found this article led me to be disappointed in Winn. Talking to my partner last night, landed on I will read a book by a scammer, as long as I don't feel like they are scamming the reader (me).

ChaoticMissAdventures Article is free with an email address: https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-real-salt-path-how-the-couple-b... 3d

Cuilin Yeah, this is so disappointing. My husband and I both read the book and we wanted to see the movie. Not sure we will now. 3d

ChaoticMissAdventures @Cuilin disappointed, yes! The author of this article says "fact and fable are often jumbled up to some degree". I don't know about all that. I think I am in the camp of Winns deception is more evidence of her bad character and I don't like that. I like that the article related this to James Fry, he popped into my mind as soon as I heard she wasn't telling the "whole truth" 3d

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squirrelbrain There are several more articles after this one, also in The Guardian / Observer, with other people alleging deceit or elaborations of the truth. 3d

Kitta I remember someone else posting an article about this a little while ago! It reminded me in a way of the drama surrounding

A Million Little Pieces

ChaoticMissAdventures @squirrelbrain I definitely know I am late to this party. It brings up so many questions for me about expectations around nonfiction and what do I expect from them and myself. 3d

ChaoticMissAdventures @Kitta yes! I was telling my partner about how it reminded me of Fry. And I don't like it. 3d

Kitta @ChaoticMissAdventures yeah, I did enjoy reading Fry‘s memoir but was really disappointed that it wasn‘t entirely true. I haven‘t read the Salt Path and probably won‘t now. If they had said it was loosely based on the truth it would have been fine! But I‘m not happy they weren‘t honest about it. 3d

squirrelbrain Oh, I wasn‘t meaning that Shawna, that you were late to the party. I was a little unsure after the first article (mainly why had they taken so long to come forward) but the further articles only added to it. 3d

ChaoticMissAdventures @squirrelbrain definitely do not want to go off one article! I feel like I can never keep up with book news. And this is the sort of stuff that would affect my reading. Why now is a great question. I am annoyed they waited so long to come out with their story (not victim blaming, just they could have done this so much earlier) 3d

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AllDebooks

The Salt Path | Raynor Winn

#NaturaLitsy

An interesting article on the future of the nature memoir following the allegations surrounding Raynor Winn.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/aug/02/the-end-of-the-road-what-the-salt-...

Faranae Winn's claims *now* that she wasn't trying to claim their walks healed Moth - she did make that claim! Many times!

I remember reading her books for my blog and thinking that things seemed fishy, but I wasn't in a position to confirm details (while PRH was), and I try to be generous and assume good faith, so I chalked it all up to them being ignorant, naive, and terrible at risk assessment. I also thought they'd be dead in less mild terrain. 😂 3w

AllDebooks @Faranae the whole story is so shocking, especially the embezzlement claims. 3w

Faranae @AllDebooks The embezzlement claims don't shock me much (and I take them with a grain of salt, too), but a court case is something PRH should have been able to find fairly easily, so they really didn't do due diligence. The rest of us couldn't because those are pen names, but PRH has their wallet names. The medical diagnosis is the one I find the most galling. 3w

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AllDebooks @Faranae the embezzlement claims ate tough because if true, she took advantage of a lot of innocent people. The health issues stated repeatedly in her book are outrageous as they gave people with similar conditions hope. 3w

AllDebooks @Faranae you're right, PRH should have done more. This is such a staon Penguin when they should be celebrating 99 years of publishing. https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/so-what-did-the-publisher-actually-... 3w

Kitta Interesting. I‘m reminded a bit of the scandal surrounding

A Million Little Pieces

AllDebooks @Kitta yes! 3w

Faranae @Kitta And James Frey and his editor basically got away with it - he has a successful career, and she continued on at PRH more or less as if nothing had happened. I guess PRH hasn't learned any lessons, or just knows that it won't matter to the bottom line in the long run (well, there is that disclaimer that I suppose will protect them from legal liability). 3w

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bibliothecarivs

The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot | Robert Macfarlane

Random book from our personal library.

2016 rating: ★★★★☆

8 likes

julesG

The Salt Path | Raynor Winn

Interesting article in today's The Observer

https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-real-salt-path-how-the-couple-b...

I haven't read the book. I'm just here sharing the link.

Leniverse I almost want to un-know this information 🙈🙉 but at the same time it's so wild it becomes fascinating 2mo

Tamra Yikes, that is terrible! I hope they are guilted & shamed into making it right. Then she can write another book to recoup the 💰and no doubt she would too. (edited) 2mo

julesG @Leniverse I forwarded the link to another friend who's working at a bookshop. She's contemplating moving it to the Fiction section. 2mo

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kspenmoll Maybe I should throw this unread book in my #TBR in the trash. (edited) 2mo

Bookwomble I haven't read the book (and won't), but thank you for linking to the article. The journalist has done a short YT report which includes footage of one of the victims of Winn's embezzlement taking about the impact of her crimes, which is very moving: https://youtu.be/UY2ivdm9obY?si=VVHeC3xG3-ialRWX 2mo

squirrelbrain I saw this headline but haven‘t read the full article yet….very intriguing! 2mo

RaeLovesToRead Yikes 2mo

Bookwormjillk This is wild. Surprised someone didn‘t do a background check before filming at least. 2mo

rockpools I‘m with @Leniverse on this one. Can I not know, please? I really loved this book when I read it, so I‘m quite sad. I guess it opens the door for someone else to write the great South West Coast Path memoir…. 2mo

quietlycuriouskate Wtf? 🤬 2mo

CoffeeK8 I read this book with my bookclub and really found it off putting, maybe some of this is why 2mo

RosePressedPages I‘d never heard of this book before but wow that is terrible and fascinating 2mo

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LapReader

Walking in Berlin: A Flaneur in the Capital | Franz Hessel

On the way home from ballet rehearsal on Sunday I visited 2 different Little Free Libraries. These were my spoils. 5.5 hours of ballet done this weekend ✅. I‘m a bit sore as I had a bit of a rest in the school holidays just gone.

37 likes