The Salt Path: Memoirs that stir our emotions and seek our sympathy should tell the truth

It was a true story and people took it to their hearts. When Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path was published in 2018, it became an instant bestseller: as the inspiring tale of a couple overcoming great hardship and serious illness, it offered hope to people who might otherwise have found themselves – like the Raynor and Moth depicted in the book – in despair. As a low-budget film, starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, it reached a wider audience: last month it was outperforming Mission: Impossible 8 and Ballerina in UK and Irish cinemas.