The Salt Path author's non-apology strategy is making everything worse |
The Salt Path, Raynor Winn’s 2018 memoir-cum-reflections on nature, occupied the public’s attention earlier this year. After surprising commercial success and public acclaim, it was made into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs which was released in May.
Two months later, however, investigative journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou set off a bomb underneath Winn’s success and renown. Writing in The Observer, she suggested that much of the narrative was false, and alleged that Winn and her husband Moth had lied, deceived and stolen money on a substantial scale. This was catnip for the public.
We love to see unlikely heroes who have overcome adversity, but there is a delicious moralistic digestif if they are then uncovered as less heroic than we were initially led to believe. Admitting there are good people in the world is not nearly as satisfying as being reminded that many are shameless grifters.
The accusations were serious and detailed. Winn – real name Sally Ann Walker – was alleged to have stolen money from her employer, an estate agency in Pwllheli in North Wales.........