The Penguin Podcast is back! Listen Now
The Salt Path

The Salt Path

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.

'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

Reviews

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

About the author

Raynor Winn

Raynor Winn is the bestselling author of The Salt Path and The Wild Silence. The Salt Path won the inaugural RSL Christopher Bland Prize and was shortlisted for the 2018 Costa Biography Award and the Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize. The Wild Silence was shortlisted for the 2021 Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing. She is a regular long-distance walker and writes about nature, homelessness and our relationship to the land. She lives in Cornwall with her husband Moth.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more