The Salt Path

By: Raynor Winn

Narrated by: Raynor Winn

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

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.

©2019 Raynor Winn (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"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) 

Worst Ever!

Absolutely awful book. Sorry for the family's troubles but this was a dreary repetative litany of woes not helped by mind numbing monotone of author's voice. Such a relief to have finished.

What an annoying voice!

I think is a very good book but the narrator voice is awful, I can't event focus on the story.

Inspirational

So heartfelt, so eye opening. Descriptions were amazing. I wish you all the very best.

A great true life story

A lovely story especially if one has camped or hiked in all weathers a lot and Raynor shows their true grit as she and Moth tackle life head on .

Walking one's way from pain and sorrow

A poignant, inspiring and life- affirming book, well written. Two ordinary people overcoming personal tragedies.

Excellent!

I truly enjoyed this book. At first I thought it might be too sad, but I hung in there and I’m glad I did! What a magnificent true story of a couple finding themselves homeless and choosing to do The Coastal Path rather than welfare housing. I loved that the author reads the book too. I don’t think anyone else could’ve gifted us with the sincerity of emotion as she does. What a beautiful story. I also liked the facts and statistics on the homeless that she gives and shares honestly what it felt like to be “one of them” now. It’s brutally honest and I appreciate her insight, since it was coming from someone who had an ordinary, middle class life & suddenly loses everything. It was a wake up call in these current times. I admire their courage and sense of adventure and how they lived on so little. I highly recommend this book. I’m going to follow up with some research to find out what happened next! Enjoy!

A wonderfull story of tragedy and resilience

Had no real expectations from this story but it is a beautifully written tale of tragedy that befalls this lovely couple and the unusual way they decide to respond. I wonder how many people will take this book on the trail?

Poor reading experience

The book is narrated here by the author. I feel it would have been better to use a professional actor. Some idiosyncrasies in how she speaks can be quite grating on the ear.

The story itself, while having some frustrating parts, and stretching credulity on occasion, is well worth the read. Thus, I'd recommend reading the book rather than listening to this audio performance.

Inspiring and illuminating

This book really touched my soul. I felt as if I was truly experiencing nature through Raynor and her husband’s daily struggles, a combination of beauty and danger. Living for a year in their world helped put the realities of our times into better perspective.

Awesome book! Thank you so much!!

I loved this book. Feels like I ve travelled the journey with them!!! Loved the reader too!!

Awful annoying voice

Wanted to return this as narrators voice is the most grating and irritating I’ve ever heard, such a pity as heard story is really good

I couldn’t listen

Within a few lines of this book, I had to delete it because the author shouldn’t be narrating it. She’s terrible! What a shame. I’ve been waiting to read this book for ages.

buy the book, not the audio recording

This story is narrated in a whiny way - I found it quite unpleasant to listen to

Author should have employed a narrator.

Ray has a marked speech impediment that I found distracting, plus her voice is quite monotone AND there is no variation between voices when describing conversations.
This tale would have read better with a different voice!
I found Ray to be - at best - an unreliable narrator. I'd like to hear the other side of the story whereby they lost their farm.
I also found myself wondering whether Moth's illness is genuine.
Moth is a cypher- we get no sense of his personality or inner dialogue.
Ray seems arrogant, judgemental and dishonest. One of life's takers.
Will not be buying the inevitable sequel.

amazingly inspirational!

You have to listen to this book!

this book really makes you think about the homeless population in the uk and how homelessness can strike when you're least expecting!

hearing about Moths degenerative disease also makes you realise you should never take life for granted.

I'm 22 and I'm now at that stage in my life where I have no idea of what I want to do, but I feel a pressure to discover what I love doing and persue it.

I started walking the Southwest Coast Path last summer and I've covered about 50 miles from Minehead to Croyde.

I would recommend anyone who is looking to test and prove to themselves they can do something and see it all the way through to walk the path!

this book has inspired me to get back on the path in spring and just walk for as long as I physically can.

Raynor has really managed to explain the sense of freedom you get from the path, which is what I really struggle to do when talking to friends and family!

If this book doesn't make you feel like you want to do something spontaneous I don't know what will!

Couldn’t get through it

Sorry but the narrator had an annoying voice, listened for an hour and had to return it. Very disappointing. Listened to the end to get the gist.

In-audible narration!

This story might have been good but I couldn't get lost in it as I was so distracted by the narration. I found some of the words difficult to understand and I use audible as a platform to help me read books as I usually take in info better audibly. It was short sighted for the author to narrate this book. It's probably worth giving the paper book a read if that method is to your liking, but I'd advise against the audible version.

Story good. Speech impediment diction distracting

Slow starter but a very good life affirming story. A real eye opener about homelessness and unconscious bias.
I wished I'd bought the book as sadly I found the diction and speech impediment very distracting.
I felt I knew the characters and was wishing they'd get a lucky break. I admired Ray's grit and determination and it was lovely to see the couple rekindle that spark which attracted them to each other at the beginning of their relationship. It's easy to 'say, all you need is each other'. This couple have lived it!

YAWN.....

I really didn't care for this so much so that I never bothered to listen to the end, I didn't feel anything for the characters or ultimately what was or wasn't going to happen to them. Life's too short for this sort of dull narration and lacklustre characters. Don't waste time or money on this - do something more uplifting and do something with people you care about or choose another book!

went way beyond my expectations

One of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to. Didn't want it to end.