The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

The author and her long time husband of 32 years, Moth, lose two things in rapid succession. They lose an appeal to overturn a decision that they owed money on their farm, which they could not pay, so they were rendered both homeless and penniless, without a way to support themselves. Almost simultaneously, Moth gets a diagnosis that he has a degenerative disease that will cause him to lose motor function over an unknowable but probably not long period of time. So what do they decide to do? They go walk about, choosing to embark on a six hundred thirty mile hike along the South West Coast Path also known as the Salt Path. This is not a gentle nor a flat walk, and they are tossed about by the weather, their physical limitations, and their severe lack of funds, but this is not a tale of sorrow. It is more about resilience and hope, and the healing aspect of being more with the natural world and less with other people. Overall, The Salt Path is an inspiring, realistic, dramatic, and well-written memoir. Fans of extreme hiking and outdoor enthusiasts will especially enjoy the story, and while it did not make me want to walk this particular path, it did make me want to walk in England again.