From the depths of despair comes love and hope. Our book of the month is The Salt Path and we give you our Big Review below.
***Our Big Reviews are written from the point of view that you have read the book. If this is not yet you, bookmark the page and come back once you have***
The Salt Path – the blurb
Just days after Raynor 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, from Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall.
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, every encounter and every test along the way, 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. Ultimately, it is a portrayal of home, and how it can be lost, rebuilt and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.
Lockdown relief?
I picked this non-fiction read as I thought a book about walking the South West Coast Path, some 600 or so miles, would be the perfect antidote to our lockdown state. However upon reading the first couple of chapters I worried I had made a big mistake. We’re all quite delicate at the moment, overwhelmed and stressed. Salt Path’s opening chapters, covering homelessness, a lost court case, death of a soul mate and even a dead sheep do nothing to sooth the mind. I had heard The Salt Path described as uplifting and it was this and only this that kept me reading past those first few pages.
Would you walk the walk?
I’m unfamiliar with the South West Coast Path (as were Ray and her husband Moth when they set out). Walking is something I have done before though and (even carrying a tent) it is something I enjoy. It is however only something I have done in decent weather, for a day or two, in decent health and with a pub at the end of it. So I could only imagine the difficulties Ray and Moth both faced physically. A pack is HEAVY, you get blisters, day 2 is always so much harder than the first, as is day three. But these two were doing it with no hot showers, no carb laden hot meal at the end of it and sometimes with nothing more than a cup of tea and a bar of fudge. Without doubt I would be utterly miserable. But then again, what alternatives did Ray and Moth have? Would you have made the same decision?
Can you deserve to be Homeless?
Ray certainly makes you question your image of homelessness people. We have all seen the man squatted in a doorway, a cardboard sign, a sleeping bag and, lets be honest, a dog. We may have thrown a few coins down, even bought a sandwich but the thought it there – this person is a drunk, a drug addict, in someway they deserve to be there. The figures Ray provides on homelessness are staggering: how it is counted; who is not included; and the options open to all these people. It is tragic that a couple who worked all their lives can go from owning a home and having employment, to having no where to sleep and only £48 a week to live on. How close are we all at being in their shoes?
Talking about death
I’ve written most of this review and haven’t even mentioned death yet. It goes to show that the book is so much more than a diagnosis. Yes it is there, yes it is desperately sad, but don’t be put off reading the book because of this. You don’t come out of it heartbroken. A feeling of ‘God I am lucky’ perhaps. A sudden need to make a cup of tea and eat nice food. A sense of injustice at their position, but not heartbroken. I wanted to meet these two on the path, give them a bed for the night, a hot meal and the sleeping bags out of my loft. I didn’t want to cry with them over the fact one was dying. It’s a true tribute to Ray’s writing talent that, that is how you end up feeling.
I’m not sure what I would have done in their circumstances. I know I’m lucky enough at present to have enough family that hopefully I wouldn’t find myself having to sleep on a cliff edge. It was however undoubtedly the right decision for them. I wish them nothing but love, happiness and a long salt laden road ahead of them.
Ray’s second book, The Wild Silence, a follow on to The Salt Path is due out in September.
Get Involved
If you would like to get involved with our book of the month try answering our book club questions published every month. Just search in our footnotes section for the ‘Get Involved’ articles. We review a new book every month so keep your eyes peeled for the Lowdown on May’s book of the month soon.