Have you read The Salt Path?
Or perhaps seen the film-of-the book, which stars Gillian Anderson?
Raynor Winn, the author of this bestselling non-fiction book, has come under scrutiny for misleading readers about the ‘truth’ of her account.
It’s about a couple who are made homeless after a poor investment goes sour – at the same time as the husband, Moth, is diagnosed with a neurological terminal illness known as corticobasal degeneration (CBD).
To cope with their desperate situation, the couple embark upon a 630-mile walk, camping or relying upon the kindness of strangers to give them a bed.
As a result, Moth experiences a huge recovery… and by 2022 (when Raynor wrote her third book about their adventures) it was claimed that his brain scan was normal and his condition had significantly improved.
All very inspirational…
A true-life fairy tale about how a walk in the wilderness can halt the progress of a fatal illness!
But perhaps it was more of a fairytale than a real story.
Because the other weekend, an article in The Observer questioned the truth of Winn’s account.
She omitted that – as a book-keeper – she’d embezzled money from an old employer, and that to avoid prosecution she’d borrowed cash to pay off this debt, putting up their home as security.
When that money needed paying back, they lost their house – which puts a rather different spin on the core reason for their long journey.
The Observer also questioned the diagnosis of CBD, pointing out that the life expectancy was usually less than 8 years. And yet Moth was diagnosed in 2008.
This means that he must have a version of this illness that’s a lot milder and more gradual than the book suggests.
In The Observer, Chloe Hadjimatheou wrote:
“Each of Winn’s three books has a similar structure: they all start with Moth suffering from the symptoms of CBD. The couple then embark on a challenging walk of hundreds of miles over several months, carrying their belongings and tent on their backs. By the end of the walk Moth’s symptoms have abated and he seems much better.”
So it seems that the illness was used as an emotional hook and structural storytelling element in Winn’s work.
For me, this narrative formula is a problem… certainly when it comes to publishing non-fiction books about serious health issues.
The Danger of Simplifying Wellness
I’ve no problem at all with the genre of non-fiction being selective with the truth.
After all, to tell a good story, an author needs to choose some elements and discard others, otherwise the book might be thousands of pages long, packed with irrelevant or boring information.
Not only that, but there are legal and confidentiality issues to consider. An author might need to conflate characters, disguise true identities and omit details that could make them (or loved ones) vulnerable.
Finally, to tell ‘an emotional truth’, an author needs to draw out a strong message from the factual events, and create an story ‘arc’ that keeps readers hooked.
However, there’s an issue when a serious health condition like corticobasal degeneration is used as the storytelling arc.
Because the book isn’t a novel or even “inspired by true events” – it is advertised very much as a ‘true story’, and the couple have talked about their experiences in the media widely through interviews in order to market their product.
This all goes to suggest that sufferers from serious diseases like CBD can halt or even reverse symptoms by going on a massive wilderness trek.
But of course, this is a huge simplification, sending a fraudulent message to people who suffer the same problem and who are desperate for hope.
This is why the charity PSPA, which supports people with CBD and progressive supranuclear palsy, has now cut ties with Winn and her husband.
The problem is, this is the kind of story the media LOVE to tell…. over and over again….
Against all odds, somebody comes back from the brink to triumph over an evil disease – all thanks to love, newfound hope or the power of nature.
This will be what Winn’s editors and publishers pushed for…
And no wonder, because thanks to this formula she has made £9.5 million in sales from three books.
But this drive to simplify wellness stories in order to sell them to the public can be damaging.
Good health is hugely complex. It combines so many factors that work mysteriously together, including mental attitude, lifestyle, exercise, diet, relationships, environmental factors, location, climate, genetics, and the microbiome, to mention a handful.
And what works for one person of a certain age and background in a certain time or place WON’T necessarily work for everyone.
This is why I’ve always emphasised multiple avenues for improving your health, from diet to lifestyle, and trying supplements and natural medicines that come with proper trial periods to see if they work for you.
Yet we all naturally crave the ‘magic bullet’ solution…
That one thing that could change our fortunes.
Which is why the idea of a terminally ill man walking himself back to health is so compelling…
And it’s why we constantly see clickbait like this:
“I gave up this ONE food to lower my cholesterol”, or “Woman loses 5 stone by eating less of ONE thing”
Yet when you look at the article, you’ll see that – yes, they gave up crisps, or they gave up ultra-processed food…
BUT almost always you’ll see they also did more exercise, focused on their health, ate better in general, and got support from loved ones around them.
Why We Should Tell More Complex Stories
For me, it’s shame that this publishing scandal has damaged trust in storytelling.
Because stories are powerful ways to influence and inspire human beings to do great things, despite the odds stacked against them.
I believe that you really can slow the ageing process, boost your immunity and improve your mobility through natural means.
Those include eating well, walking, immersing yourself in nature, enjoying companionship, reducing stress and finding a purpose in life…
Which means that taking time out of your life to go on a physical or spiritual journey could have benefits.
But let’s not pretend that it’s such a simple ‘fix’.
And let’s not always instantly trust the veracity of accounts where somebody is making £9m from the story of their illness.
Instead, it would be beneficial to tell stories about the mysterious complexity of wellness and good health…
How it requires you to work on multiple aspects of your life… from food and drink to lifestyle and relationships, to your mental outlook.
And why it sometimes requires more than just a personal effort.
For instance, the other day I read a New Scientist interview with Devi Sridhar, a professor of global public health and author of How Not To Die (Too Soon).
She argues that “the idea that individuals are fully responsible for their health – which is what is being projected to us – doesn’t reflect the realities of people’s lives.”
Instead, factors like air quality, good drinking water, universal health care and safe roads have as much of an impact on whether we make it to 100 or not.
The focus on our duty to make ourselves healthy, she says, is letting policy makers off the hook.
So I applaud anyone who genuinely lifts themselves out of their misery though a life changing experience.
But let’s try and tell the story so that sufferers from serious illnesses aren’t duped into thinking that their problem is purely down to their own failings.
