This is such a beautiful book: several times I found myself re-reading sentences as the use of words is more like poetry than prose. The only authors I have done this with before are PG Woodhouse and Thomas Hardy- so you’re in good company, Rayner. The book is both a sequel and prequel to The Salt Path, as it continues the story of Ray and Moth when they’ve finished walking the Salt Path, and goes back into Ray’s childhood, and the early years of their relationship. This gives a greater understanding of why they did the walk than we get in the first book. I can not recommend it highly enough.

I was hugely looking forward to The Wild Silence, having adored The Salt Path and I was not disappointed. Picking up with Ray and Moth again feels like returning to old friends.

Told partially as a biography which flashes backwards and forwards in Ray and Moth’s lives but also the events and concerns since their epic walk, it is (again) a beautifully written book of perseverance and hope. With a less obvious ‘objective’ than The Salt Path, we have multiple strands which culminate in another inspiring journey. I would not hesitate to recommend both books and would almost sway to preferring The Wild Silence.

With thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House/Michael Joseph for an ARC in consideration of an honest review.

After brilliant Salt Path comes gorgeous The Wild Silence.

Raynor and Moth on a walk again. Nature heals and walk is meditative.

Love the book!

After following Raynor and Moth’s journey (both physically and mentally) in The Salt Path, I was excited and curious to see what had happened to them next and especially interested to see how Moth’s current health was, in this, the follow up book.
Although Raynor’s writing, especially about nature, is beautifully descriptive, this book didn’t quite have the same impact on me as it’s predecessor.
The Salt Path saw them lose everything, discover Moth’s illness was terminal, overcoming hardship, finding freedom and realising what was important to them in life, whereas, this book was more about their early lives, adapting back into civilisation, Raynor gaining her confidence and finding her self worth and coping with fame after The Salt Path became a best seller.
Her humour made me smile, her self doubt struck a cord and the way she described her childhood home, the cider farm and Iceland, made me feel that I was right there beside them. I could smell the apples and feel the temperature dropping!
Their love and devotion to each other still shines through and after losing everything, I’m glad things are working out well for them.

I loved The Salt Path and was very pleased to be offered the chance to read and review an e-ARC of Raynor Winn's follow up memoir. The Salt Path left me with a strong feeling that I needed to know "what happened next". and this is the book that I had hoped for. Not necessarily the story but certainly Ray's writing style and open honesty. It is a tough tale of her mother's illness and decline and also of Moth's failing health. It is also a story of hope, resiliance and looking outwards. I very much enjoyed the book and wish it as much success as Salt Path.

This book starts by telling us what happened after Mo and Ray left the coast path, Moth is doing a degree and Ray’s mother is ill. She’s not doing too great being back in the normal world and things are starting to go back to the way they were before they went: Mo’s health is deteriorating and Ray feels she’s lost what she gained on the path.

Ray starts to think about her childhood and then we’re right there with her as she remembers how she’s always felt this tie to the land, this longing to be outside and to be connected to everything. The style is as exquisite as the first book. Her story is heart-breakingly sad and it’s hard to find the right words when it’s someone’s life.

I found some of Ray’s feelings about nature and her reticence towards people striking a chord within me. Feeling raw from the sad events in her life it all cut me to the quick. Things are difficult for them, Ray trying to get a job and then she realises Moth has forgotten their time on the coast path. So she has an idea to start writing a book about their experiences to help Moth remember and starts telling us how The Salt Path came to be written.

The Salt Path is a beautiful book that was written especially for Moth so he wouldn’t forget, a way of keeping that time frozen for them. The story was so wonderful it had to be published.

I enjoyed this book but I read it too quickly. I should’ve waited to read it when the hardback became released, some books are enjoyed better when their actually in your hands. It was good to read what happened next and also read about how The Salt Path came to be.

I absolutely loved the Salt Path so it was wonderful to return to Raynor Winn's incredible writing. Such atmosphere, sense of place, and gorgeous prose.

This is the follow up, the what happens next to Raynor and Moth Winn after the completion of their mammoth coastal walk described in the stunning ‘Salt Path’ which was one of my favourite books of 2018. Moth has CBD (Corticobasal Degeneration) which through their walking he has miraculously held at bay. They are now in Polruan in Cornwall but there is change afoot and an arduous walk in Iceland to undertake with fellow walkers and friends Dave and Julie.

Raynor is the most wonderful storyteller, she is lyrical, almost poetic in her descriptions of landscapes, sky, wildlife and fauna so you can picture it in your minds eye. She is honest as she talks emotionally about her childhood life on the farm with her parents, her mothers health , worries about Moth and her difficulties in groups of people. Moth is gregarious, Raynor is not. I love how she needs space and sky in order to think, feel and function and how the land is in her blood and at the core of her being. Moth is truly amazing as he has been able to defy the fate the disease has in store for him by not ‘being carful on the stairs’ as a specialist advised. They embrace challenges and by sheer grit, determination and hard work they are able to move forward in their lives as shown by the move to the Fowey area to a much run down farm tenancy and their trip to Iceland which most people half their age wouldn’t do! Their love for each other, their extraordinary deep connection to each other and to nature the land is a sheer inspiration and deeply humbling.

Overall ‘The Wild Silence’ of the earth is their home, it’s their roots, their sense of self and it makes for another fantastic and life affirming read. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph and to Raynor Winn.

Having absolutely loved 'The Salt Path', I was really looking forward to reading this sequel. It certainly didn't disappoint, though I don't think it could ever have had the same impact as the first book. Here we discover how Raynor came to publish the story of their walk and to find out how their lives progressed after. We also learn about Raynor's childhood growing up on a farm, and about the early days of her relationship with Moth. The quality of writing is superb, and the book is beautiful and very moving. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

The Wild Silence is a story of hope triumphing over despair, of lifelong love prevailing over everything. It is a luminous account of the human spirit's instinctive connection to nature, and how vital it is for us all.
I enjoyed finding out what became of Raynor and Moth. Unfortunately I didn't think this book was as interesting as The Salt Path.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This is Raynor Winn’s follow-up to her acclaimed travel memoir ‘the Salt Path’ but it really wraps around it. By that I mean that this memoir charts her life before and after her epic trek.
It is more of a diary or a piecing together of life moments than the Salt Path which focuses on one journey.
We read about her need to recreate the salt path in her home to get back to normal life, her mother’s death and her and partner Moth coming to terms with his long-term illness.
There is sadness here but also hope and redemption as nature proves their salvation, once again. They take on a crumbling house in Cornwall and embark on a challenging trek across Iceland.
Winn is an evocative and powerful writer and she writes about nature knowledgeably and beautifully.
I found this a moving and honest story although it does repeat some of her experiences. Recommended.

'The Salt Path' had a huge impact on me and like all the best stories - even though in this case, Raynor was writing about the real-life experience of becoming homeless in middle age - it stayed with me long after I had finished reading it and I bought many copies for family and friends. I was thrilled to receive an advance review copy of 'The Wild Silence', which picks up the thread of Raynor and her husband, Moth's life after they have moved into accommodation in Fowey. As with her previous novel, the descriptions of nature are so lyrical and evocative that the reader shares in Raynor's communing with nature. It was a privilege akin to reconnecting with old friends to be allowed back into their lives which sensitively charts the struggle many homeless people face to assimilate back into society (Raynor describes how she has to re-erect their salt path tent in a bedroom complete with her sleeping bag just in order to be able to sleep, an anecdote which I found deeply moving).

Their compelling journey this time leads them to the restoration of a Cornish farmhouse and I was completely seduced by the escapist quality of Raynor's writing. The only thing that made this a four star rather than a five star read was I sometimes found there was a little too much repetition of key life moments. However, this is no way detracted from my overall enjoyment and neither would it preclude me from recommending it to friends, family, one and all as a wonderful summer read.

The follow up story to The Salt Path, the multi award winning memoir on grief and loss and the meditative and calming process of re-connecting with nature. This book starts where The Salt Path left off, but meanders back and forth through Winn's memories and how those have shaped her as much as the land. Essentially this is a meditation on conflict between the trauma of the hand that life has dealt you and the pull of the earth to centre you and celebrate your part in the natural cycle of things. I found it fascinating, not as coherent as the Salt Path, where the journey shaped the narrative arc, but it was good to find out what happened next. Hopefully there will be more from Winn. Her connection to nature is what lifts this book out of the misery memoir and makes it so much more.

Oh wow!!! Another amazing read from Raynor Winn. Her detailed descriptions are virtually poetic. You read and escape your world and are dropped straight in to the places she is describing. The love she has for Moth is so powerful. The battle she’s facing as he begins to be lost to his illness is so moving. I was hooked all the way through this book. I totally loved each part. I want to visit island now too. If you like Salt Path, you’ll love this book too.

After reading and enjoying ‘The Salt Path’ I was extremely happy to be given the opportunity to read more about Raynor and Moth’s life. ‘The Wild Silence’ does not disappoint, it is a beautifully written account of their journey both physically and emotionally. In places it is an incredibly sad story but also very illuminating and uplifting. Raynor’s writing is beautiful and she brings the outdoors to life with her words. Many thanks to the publisher for giving me the pleasure of reading a review copy.

I read 'The Salt Path', the first book by Raynor Winn when my wife and her reading group chose it last year. Consequently, when given the chance to read an advance copy of 'The Wild Silence', I grasped at the opportunity.

I found the first book deeply moving and beautifully written. Raynor Winn's style of writing brings the landscape to life. Raynor and Moth's journey through life, started in the first book are revisited and expanded further in this book.

Once again she has managed to bring the geography, geology and ecology of the landscape to life, with her carefully crafted prose.

I won't go into detail about the content of this book, for fear of spoiling the journey for other readers. Suffice to say that there are passages which are extremely moving, passages which are very touching and sections which are both sad and encouraging.

I wish both Raynor and Moth well during the remainder of their lives together. I give my thanks to Netgalley and Penguin (Michael Joseph) for a copy of this book in exchange for this review.

I looked forward to reading The Wild Silence following on from the Salt Path which I thought was wonderful. I loved reading the new account which is so full of love and hope. The writing is exquisite, Raynor has such a lyrical way with words that envelop you so much that you can almost smell the countryside, feel the rain and get buffeted by the wind!
We learn more about life before the Salt Path, all told with such emotion. All the plaudits for the book are not mentioned, just the gratitude that it has touched so many lives.. Moth’s degenerative disease is progressing and Ray’s care and love for him shines out. There are difficult decisions to be made but as a consequence leading from the first book they take on the rewilding of a cider farm. Hard work, but involving them in the nature they love..
The book ends with another even harder walk, in Iceland, so we come full circle. I do hope there is another book to come, I feel Ray was born to write!

I have been waiting impatiently to read this book after loving The Salt Path. I'm pleased to say that it met my expectations. It satisfies the 'what came next' once Ray and Moth had completed their long south west coastal walk and settled in a small flat waiting for Moth to start his university course.

The Wild Silence tells us about the next four years and the continuing struggles with money, and with settling back into a routine after the months of freedom walking. Moth's illness is another big concern, but their lives change again, both with the hugely successful publication of The Salt Path, which is not dwelt on particularly, and also the chance to move to a cider farm. The book ends with the description of another tough walk, even more physically testing than the previous one.

Along the way there are lyrical accounts of nature and the overriding theme is of the necessity of both a connection with, and respect and care for nature. I loved this book too and hope that Raynor Winn writes more for us.

Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for a review copy.

PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION:

“Nature holds the answers for Raynor and her husband Moth. After walking 630 homeless miles along The Salt Path, living on the windswept and wild English coastline; the cliffs, the sky and the chalky earth now feel like their home.

Moth has a terminal diagnosis, but against all medical odds, he seems revitalized in nature. Together on the wild coastal path, with their feet firmly rooted outdoors, they discover that anything is possible.

Now, life beyond The Salt Path awaits and they come back to four walls, but the sense of home is illusive and returning to normality is proving difficult - until an incredible gesture by someone who reads their story changes everything.

A chance to breathe life back into a beautiful farmhouse nestled deep in the Cornish hills; rewilding the land and returning nature to its hedgerows becomes their saving grace and their new path to follow.

The Wild Silence is a story of hope triumphing over despair, of lifelong love prevailing over everything. It is a luminous account of the human spirit's instinctive connection to nature, and how vital it is for us all.”

NO SPOILERS

I have read Raynor Wynn’s The Salt Path and really enjoyed it so I was looking forward to reading her subsequent book.

The Salt Path is very much a journal, a style which I always like and The Wild Silence is more of a memoir, giving the story before the Salt Path walk, the reason for writing it down (which is so moving) and continuing after it; so although there is another epic walk towards the end of the book, it is not the focus.

Wynn’s writing style is fast to read and flows with ease. She writes with enthusiasm, passion, conviction and total honesty; and boy does she know her stuff! Some of the writing is so descriptive that I was there, in a field, on a cliff, in a river, beside a glacier. I could smell the rain and feel the grass.

Theirs is an interesting tale. Ray and Moth have led a far from ordinary life but the main theme of this book is the importance of a connection with nature and the effect this has on all aspects of our lives, in this case, particularly on Moth’s physical health, leading to him “sidestepping” the degenerative disease from which he suffers.

I suspect writing at this level can be a beneficial connection itself, yet I have to confess, there is so much detail that I speed read some of it.


The relationship between Ray and Moth is beautiful and being allowed to know their full story is something of a privilege. But for me, the relentless repetition of the importance of connection became tedious. Over and over again, even within the same paragraph, Wynn repeats it. I was beginning to say, sometimes out loud, “OK…I get it!”

All that said, this is a tale of faith, trust and love, written with pathos and, in places, sheer brilliance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin/Michael Joseph UK for the Advanced Reader Copy of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.