Salt seller

Each summer there seems to be a story that grabs the public's imagination and won't let go.

- By Andrew Anthony

This year, everyone has been discussing and speculating upon the saga of The Salt Path, the bestselling book that purported to tell the story of Raynor and Moth Winn.

The book, which has been translated into 25 languages and sold millions, tells the tale of a couple who were made homeless by a ruthless former friend, discovered that Moth had a terminal degenerative illness, and decided to walk the beautiful 1000km-long South West Coast Path, an odyssey which somehow served to ease Moth's symptoms.

A favourite of book groups looking for inspirational stories, it was made into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs. The whole drama from disablement and eviction from their home to international success and depiction by famous actors seemed almost too good to be true. And so it seems is the case.

An