The Wild Silence

by Raynor Winn

Pre-order Raynor Winn's magical and life-affirming new book, The Wild Silence - the follow-up to the uplifting, Sunday Times, internationally bestselling, Wainwright prize shortlisted, and Costa shortlisted, The Salt Path.

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 revitalised 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Nature, Travel, Biography, Walking, Autobiography

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2020

About the author

After walking the South West Coast Path, Raynor Winn became a long distance walker and now writes about nature, homelessness and wild camping. She lives in Cornwall.

Follow Raynor on Twitter @raynor_winn

Reviews

[Sophy H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh bugger.

I hate having to write a somewhat negative review when I really admire the writer and their previous work.

The Salt Path for me was an amazing book, I could have read it over and over, it was so sublime. I pre-ordered The Wild Silence back last year and have been patiently waiting to read the paperback ........

I was so so disappointed, gutted in fact. First, the positives, just so I don't feel as though I'm tearing Raynor Winn's work to bits.

The positives:-

The love between Raynor and her husband Moth shines through at all times, and the history of how they met and the strength of their developing relationship is beautiful.

The description of nature and our necessary relationship to it is again beautiful. Raynor certainly has a poetic way with words when describing nature/outdoors/wildlife.

But then ...............

The negatives:

The entire Icelandic section for me was unnecessary and completely detracted from the whole story, like a quick "ooh and" at the end. It felt like a drudgery to read this part to be honest.

The constant self-deprecation became a little grating after a while. Everybody is insecure. We all think we're shit at what we do. It's human nature. The repetition of self-doubting statements became quite annoying and I lost sympathy after say the tenth time of hearing how Raynor didn't want to answer the door or speak to a neighbour or be in a room with people.

There was nowhere near enough about the rewilding of the farm they moved to. A brief mention of the animals and hiding out in a tree looking for moth grubs! This didn't really cut it for me.

As a health care professional, I was actually shocked at the section dealing with Raynor's mum and her catastrophic stroke. Granted, each health care experience is unique but I want to find it hard to believe that one minute the team would attempt an NG tube (without consulting Raynor), then the next, tell Raynor it's her choice whether her mum gets a PEG tube, then wait for days until her mum is overloaded with secretions to start hyoscine or make her mum comfortable (which is usually standard practice earlier on in the proceedings). Perhaps there were some communication barriers between Raynor and her mum's caregivers but I felt that she was quick to point out their failings, rather than speak up herself earlier to say what her mum would have wanted/wouldn't have wanted.

I just felt The Wild Silence was riding the coat tails of The Salt Path but contained nowhere near the quality, sincerity or individuality of it. I felt Raynor had lost her shine somewhat, perhaps through overly forceful publishers wanting to make a quick buck.

This sadly ended up as a 2.5 star book for me.

[Ceecee · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this follow-on read from The Salt Path both wonderful and a bit distracting. It was a bit disjointed. What didn't change however was Winn's incredibly powerful abilities as a writer, and her talents in evoking people and the countryside with her own unique perspectives.

There were various threads to the book....

* Winn's mother having a dreadful stroke and then dying.

*Winn's memories of her early relationship with Moth, and their hiking together in Scotland.

* Moth continuing his life with corticobasal degeneration, culminating in them taking an outrageous hike with friends in the harsh landscape and weather of Iceland. In Winn's heart this wild trek was to stimulate health back into Moth, in the same way their trip around the coast of Cornwall had done the year before.
"All I could think of was the doctor sitting on the edge of his table in his surgery in Wales after he'd told Moth he possibly only had two years left. "Don't tire yourself, or walk too far, and be careful on the stairs." But here he was, exhausted, bruised, hungry, but laughing as he put his boots back on to fresh cold feet. Already four years into borrowed time."

* Moth biting into a freezing hard Mars bar and breaking two of his front teeth.

* The story of Winn writing The Salt Path and getting it published. The publicity and success that followed.

* Winn and Moth being offered the lease of a battered farm in Cornwall, and the chance to turn it around, aiming for greater diversity and partial rewilding. How they brought the farm back to life.

So, there were many aspects to this book, and whilst I understood why it was disjointed (life can indeed be disjointed), I think I would have preferred it perhaps as a collection of essays.

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een heel mooi boek waar ik van heb genoten, meer nog dan van het eerdere boek. In dit boek komen Ray en Moth toch tot bepaalde inzichten en proberen zij met de nieuw verworven kennis een nieuw leven op te bouwen. Schitterende natuurbeschrijvingen, ik zie het voor me. Ontroerend en hoopgevend.

A beautiful book that I enjoyed even more than the previous book. In this book Ray and Moth come to certain insights and try to build a new life with the newly acquired knowledge. Beautiful descriptions of nature, I am there. Moving and hopeful.

[Carl Despriet · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading 'The Salt Path' I was anxious to read 'The Wild Silence' and I wasn't disappointed. This book is even better, I think, because now Raynor Winn fully explores and demonstrates her gift as a writer. The parts about the fatal illness and death of her mother are really moving. She writes about the English fauna and flora in poetic and beautiful English and I really enjoyed that. Their struggle to make an old Cornish farm into a new home is well-rendered and you can't but sympathize with this loving couple. I just felt that the episode about their trip to Iceland was material for another novel and that this book didn't really need this sidestep. I would have preferred to follow the story of the farmhouse and the cultivation of the cider and their observations of country life. But I'm not complaining, this is a very good novel.

[Fatma Al Zahraa Yehia · Rating 5 out of 5]

توثقت الصلة بيني وبين "راي" الكاتبة في هذا الكتاب. تلك الصلة التي تكونت منذ عامين بعد قراءة درب الملح والذي يروي حكاية زوجين في الخمسينات من عمرهم يقرران المشي على طول ساحل يمتد لأكثر من 600 ميل، وذلك بعد تعرضهم للإفلاس ومن ثم التشرد. تتقاطع ضائقتهم المالية مع اكتشاف إصابة الزوج "موث" بمرض الانتكاس القشري التقاعدي، والذي يُصيب خلايا المخ بخلل يؤدي للشلل التدريجي للجسم. وعلى عكس المتوقع، تُقدم تلك الرحلة الشاقة ل "موث" تعافياً أدحض نبوءة طبيبه الذي أخبره بأن حياته لم يتبق لديه فيها غير أقل من عام.

نستكمل في هذا الجزء الذي تفادت فيه الكاتبة عيوب كتابها الأول من إسهاب وتطويل، نستكمل معها فصول حكايتها التي لم نعرفها. ماضي "راي" مع عائلتها وطفولتها التي قضتها طليقة حرة في المزارع، مما عمّق ارتباطها وتجذرها بالأرض. تتذكر "راي" تلك الماضي لدى عودتها لبيت عائلتها لرعاية والدتها المحتضرة، والتي يُذكّرها احتضارها بما ينتظر زوجها "موث" من تدهور مُحتّم استطاعت فقط أن تؤجل وقته بعد قيامهم برحلتهم السابقة.

وفي الحاضر، تستقر "راي" مع زوجها بعد نهاية رحلتهما على درب الملح في غرفة صغيرة ملحقة بإحدى الكنائس. وترى نوعا من الانتكاس يصيب زوجها بعد الانتعاشة الصحية الاعجازية التي حدثت له خلال رحلتهم على طول الساحل الغربي. ترى "راي" أن المعيشة في سكن ضيق قد قتلت روحيهما هى وزوجها، فتجد فرصة للنجاة من خلال مزرعة متهالكة يعرض صاحبها عليهم إيجارها ومحاولة إعادتها مرة ثانية للحياة.

وبعد جهد مضني، تبدأ معالم الازدهار التدريجي في العودة لتلك المزرعة المهملة المهجورة. يعود ل "موث" الزوج جزءاً من حيويته التي يقضي عليها مرضه المخيف. مما يشجع "راي" على القيام بقفزة شجاعة واقتراح القيام برحلة برية أخرى لأيسلندة، فإنها قد علمت أن التواجد في البرية هو المنقذ الوحيد لزوجها، فلماذا-رغم كل المصاعب-لا يقوما بتلك الخطوة ما دامت الخسارة موجودة على أي حال؟

يجد البعض أن أسلوب الكاتبة "راينور وين" أو "راي" مملاً مفتقداً للحياة. بينما وجدت في اسلوبها وفي هذا الكتاب رفقة هادئة مؤنسة لأربعة شهور متواصلة-قرأته مرتان-جعلتني غير راغبة في انهاءه. وجدت في مللها-وتخبط زمن الحكي في بعض الأحيان-نوع من التلقائية الشديدة جعلتني بشكل ما أرتبط بها وبزوجها وبرفاق رحلتها. كان لتلك النوع من الكتابة دور كبير في شعوري بالزمن وبالمكان وبمشاعرها كامرأة خجولة تكافح لكي تختبىء من زحام العالم في حضن الرجل الوحيد الذي أحبته والذي تحاول حمايته بكل طاقتها، وفي حضن الطبيعة والأرض التي طالما شعرت أنها تنتمي لها منذ طفولتها.

خمسة نجوم لأنني أحببت هذا الكتاب حباً غير مشروط ♥♥♥♥♥

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant enough jumble of meeting Moth for the first time and their early travels together, her childhood, her mother’s death, coming back from the South West Coast Path and writing her first book in a chapel in Cornwall, the publication process and reception of The Salt Path (which she’d originally titled Lightly Salted Blackberries!), embarking on rewilding a patch of farmland for a landowner who’d read her book and was sure she and Moth were the right people to achieve his vision for the place, and a walking trip in Iceland with friends.

I got the feeling that her publisher was desperate to capitalize on the popularity of her first book and said “give us whatever you have,” cramming what were probably the drafts of several different projects (a memoir that went deeper into the past, a ‘what happened next’ sequel to The Salt Path, and the Iceland travelogue) into one book and rushing it through to publication – it was supposed to come out in March and I was thinking of going to a local event with members of my book club; it was then, like so many releases, pushed back to early September, but I doubt they took advantage of the extra time to polish the manuscript. For instance, the running title (at the top of every right-hand page) of Chapter 2 is accidentally repeated throughout Chapter 3. A couple of tense issues and dangling modifiers, but not as bad as in the first book.

Winn’s writing is still strong; she captures dialogue and scenes naturally, and you believe her when she speaks about how much a connection to the land matters to her. I might try this again one day when the hype has died down and there isn’t so much demand for it from the library. (She talks about a nature classic that means a lot to her and that she’s asked to write an introduction for, Copsford by Walter J.C. Murray. I’d not heard a lot about it before but I’ll look into it some more.)

[N Poplars · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Million Little Pieces………after reading both The Salt Path and The Wild Silence, I believe there’s so much that just doesn’t add up to the tales spun by the author. It’s as if a tragedy was fabricated as a marketing strategy for these books. Try googling Raynor or Moth Winn and you will find basically nothing about them other than that written in the books. 1. Homelessness? Hmmmm, she apparently had a mother who was still alive and owned a home at the time. 2. Other family? 2 ‘kids’ who we faintly learn are in college/college educated and on to careers in big cities. Practically ghosts through the family crisis and two books. 3. As if the walk was some epiphany? We learn in book 2 that they actually have a hiking history from their 20s. So why all the poor planning with gear? 4. Moth’s terminal illness? 9 years on and apparently not so terminal (good on him, truly!). 5. Lost home through bad investment? Homes don’t just get taken away overnight. The judgment and bad investment are never really explained. Normally homes are exempt from creditors? 6. Lifestyle choices or plain bad decision making? Limited funds spent on eating fudge and cream teas. Everyone indulges but if you are truly in extremis….. 7. Memoir or nature writing? I found the prose in writing of nature beautiful. And what do we really know about Ray other than her almost constant fearful state and her professed love of Moth. What do we really know about Moth, (other than he is terminally ill) for someone so central to her being. Moth seems to have no say in decision making or voice other than very petty dialogue throughout. The story just doesn’t add up but good on Ray Winn for ‘selling her story’. The first chapter of her first book left me with so much skepticism, I didn’t want to continue. But a friend had given me book #2 and said i must read book #1 (library loan). Just glad I didn’t contribute to any sales of either book. Oh, and love the cover artwork.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second from raynor winn and would most definalty recommed the first too! There has been a growth from this writter from her first book that you can tell from reading this. Her sytle and imagery has expanded and this book like her last is a credit to her. Beautiful heartfelt story of life, struggle, love and strength. A pleasure to read and cant wait to read her next book.

[Beth Bonini · Rating 4 out of 5]

We need the plants, the land, the natural world; we actually physically need it. I’m convinced it’s part of the answer to why your health was so much better while we were walking. It has to be.

I think it seems to be a bit of a mid-life theme. Lots of us find we have to go back to the beginning of our life in order to start again. Back to where we grew up, or where we were happiest. To a time before things went wrong. I see it like pressing the reset button.

Often, after I finish a book, I immediately go back to the beginning of it. It seems to settle the entire book in my mind. The first chapter of this book is definitely a case in point. Titled ‘Gone to Earth’, author Raynor Winn compares herself to a badger retreating to her sett: in this case, the tent that she had slept in all the months that she and her husband Moth had been walking the South West Coast Path. Months after triumphantly completing that challenge, she and Moth have settled into village life in Polruan, Cornwall. Moth is attending university, but Ray is floundering: worried about her husband’s deteriorating health, worried about the future, and feeling both claustrophobic and lost within the confines of village life.

It’s definitely a companion book - and of course, sequel - to The Salt Path, but it has an entirely different tone. Melancholy, inward-looking, backward-glancing: Ray repeatedly compares herself to a shy, scared child who hides behind sofas. She begins writing the manuscript of what will become her celebrated book as a way to connect with Moth (and herself) again. She is terrified of Moth losing the memories that are so precious to her. Of course, the loss of Moth’s memory is the tip of the iceberg: what really frightens her is the thought of losing Moss entirely.

At the beginning of the book, Ray’s mother has to go into hospital and Ray goes through a bedside vigil. She is there to witness the end of her mother’s life - to make the necessary decisions about interventions - and it stirs up memories from the past, and the farming life she grew up with, and the more frightening emotional reckoning which is looming in her future.

I think that most people who will read this book will do so because they love The Salt Path. This book doesn’t have the same impact, partly because it is so much more about the author’s internal drama than her inspiring journey. Even when she recounts the amazing success of her first book, the reader has a sense of her ambivalence - not just about publicly airing her story, but also because of the challenge of speaking in front of other people. The book ends with another long walk - this time in Iceland - but I felt the story was far more bogged down in fear than elevated by awe. I don’t mean that in a judgmental way, because I would certainly have felt the same, but I feel like the author’s capacity for joy and awe was blunted in this book.

In a way, this book is a reminder that life continues to be a huge challenge - even when a person does manage to turn her life around, experience the kindness of strangers, and write a best-selling book in the process. The revelation, if there is one, is that nature - being part of the natural world - is the necessary thing: for Moth’s physical health, for Ray’s mental health. Everything about Ray’s back story reinforces this truth, this awareness. She also manages to connect ideas about farming and land management with her past and present story, and at the end of the book she and Moth have established themselves in a tenant farming experiment.

It’s a moving book, and I think it will still resonate with many readers - but I don’t think it will inspire and linger in the mind in the same way as The Salt Path.

[Lydia Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is no doubt that Raynor Winn is a gifted writer. Her debut book, The Salt Path was a joy to read despite the subject matter & it really depicted the journey of triumph over adversity in the most literal sense. It is no surprise it won her so many awards.

The sequel is equally beautifully written, but this time I found some of the subject matter a little harder to bear (her mother’s death for example). Also there didn’t seem such a story to tell here & therefore it becomes a little disjointed as past is married with present. However, still a very lovely read. 3.5* for me.

[PAUL · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as The Salt Path. But it never could be as that was a little masterpiece. This I found to be a mish-mash of cobbled together bits and bobs that didn't sit easy with me. It was like the publishers felt the need to get this into print and to make as much money as possible on the back of the success of The Salt Path. If The Wild Silence was the first book by Raynor Winn then I very much doubt Penguin would have published it.
The Icelandic walk I found to be boring in the extreme.

[Sherrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love Raynor Winn's writing, this was equally as good as The Salt Path. It tells of their early lives and their lives since the first book was published. Her writing is so descriptive but so calming and serene, it makes me feel the same way. Such inspirational people.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Raynor Winn’s follow-up book to the very successful Salt Path, the story of Moth, her husband being diagnosed with a terminal illness and them both losing absolutely everything. They set off to walk the South West Coast Path and discover the beauty of this coastline and their own natural resilience to the hardships of life.

This book covers the time before and after that book was printed and the changes that its success gave to their lives and the opportunities that they had because of it. So much so that one person who read it gave them the chance to move to a farm for reasonable rent with the promise that they would bring wildlife back to the fields and hedgerows.

I thought that this book neatly filled in the details of their lives before and after they completed the walk on the path to the publication of the book. Winn has a way with words, that makes this really easy to read. I did like this a lot, but for me, The Salt Path had the edge on this. I thought that she might have mentioned being shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize, the first and only time I have had the pleasure of meeting her and Moth. It is much more of a memoir than a nature book but that outlook on the natural world permeates throughout the book. I did think that the walk through Iceland didn’t quite fit with the rest of the book, that said I get why she included it, as it is relevant to Moth’s health.

[Jovana De · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ik ging er al twijfelachtig in want ik was niet onverdeeld enthousiast over Het Zoutpad. Maar ik ben zo’n typ die toch graag deel 2 wil lezen als dat er is. En ik hou wel van hike, bergen en natuur boeken dus ik gaf het gewoon nog een kans.

Ik heb in lange tijd me niet zo door een boek heen moeten worstelen. Het kon me echt helemaal niet boeien. Ik vond de schrijfster echt een zeurkous. En er was weinig natuur/hike/bergen. Alleen op het laatst ondernemen ze nog een avontuur, en dat vond ik dan ook het leukste stukje om te lezen.

Nee dit was echt niet mijn boek….sorry Ray.
Maar @Kris bedankt voor de gedeelde worsteling!

[Kris —— · Rating 2 out of 5]

If not for Jovana - buddy extraordinaire - I would’ve forgotten all about this book AND I would’ve stopped after 50 pages or so. Nice to notice we struggled with the same issues regarding this book. The last 50 pages or so aaaaalmost made me forget my initial resistance, but I can’t go over two stars. The word combo ‘wild silence’/‘wilde stilte’ makes me itch, whereas my mouth goes ‘tsk’ and a heavy sigh escapes me. I’d rather hike myself. Don’t believe the hype!

[Wouter van Noort · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is all over the place. The first half, I have to say, was pretty boring, nothing much happening at all. From the second half onward, the book finally started to pick up, walking through the rough terrain of Iceland and feeling more like The Salt Path, with the adventure just exploding from the pages. Unfortunately, I have to rate this one lower than its predecessor.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this but didn’t love it. Raynor Winn can clearly write and her prose is beautiful and evocative, the story just seemed a little confused. The whole book had the feeling of only being written to follow up on the (well deserved) success of The Salt Path.

[Delphine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vervolg op ‘Het zoutpad’, waarin een koppel van middelbare leeftijd beslist om het South West Coast Path in Engeland te lopen na twee ingrijpende gebeurtenissen - het verlies van hun woonplaats, en een terminale diagnose voor de man.

‘De wilde stilte’ traceert de voorgeschiedenis van het koppel, en laat zien hoe ze tot de beslissing zijn gekomen - een welkome aanvulling op de vele vragen die ‘Het zoutpad’ toch oproept. Winn brengt ook het vervolg in kaart: hoe ze een ciderboerderij overnemen van een wilde weldoener, hoe haar eerste boek tot stand kwam, haar ongemak bij de confrontatie met haar publiek.

Opnieuw spat de liefde voor het buitenleven van elke bladzijde - de troost van de aarde, je plaats kennen in de wereld. En het moet gezegd, Winn raakt enkele stokpaardjes van mij aan - het boek ‘Copsford’ van Walter Murray, een trektocht door het betoverende Landmannalaugar in IJsland. Toch loopt er een vreemde boodschap door het verhaal - dat je medisch advies maar moet negeren, en dat de kracht van de natuur een levensbedreigende ziekte kan tegenhouden. Dit is mij toch net iets te zweverig en realiteitsontkennend.

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apologies to the author – my review is a personal reaction to a well written, well meaning book which was, I'm assuming, cathartic and theraputic to write. But I just could not get past the first third. I could not bring myself to ready another chapter about someone watching an elderly parent die a slow, agonising death whilst dealing with a husband who is about to go through the same thing. It was the most somber, depressing opening to a book I have ever read, a stark contrast to the author's previous life-affirming book The Salt Path which I absolutely loved. I hope those who are made of harder stuff than me persevere with the story and are rewarded with an suitably redemptive ending. My thoughts go out to the author; it was hard enough reading it, I can't imagine what it was like to write it.

[Kitty G Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this one as a follow up to the first and I am pleased to have continued the journey. I think there's one more too, and I will probably pick that one up at some stage too.
This story tells the journey of Raynor and Moth as they settle back into 'normal' life, and the challenges that poses for both of them mentally and physically.
We also get to see a lot more of Ray's backstory and childhood and we come to understand her more I think in this book compared to the first which felt more about Moth and the journey.
This story also follows them to some far-reaching adventures, and another big trek in Iceland this time.
I also liked to see their home coming together a bit more here.
3*s overall.

[Vicki Antipodean Bookclub · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The pain of grief is just as much part of life as the joy of love:it is perhaps the price we pay for love, the cost of commitment” ~ Dr. Colin Murray Parkes
.
.
.
In her first book, The Salt Path, Ray and Moth walked the South West Coast Path after losing their home and following Moth’s diagnosis of Corticobasal Degeneration, a progressive neurological illness. The book ended hopefully with them finding a home in Cornwall and Moth regaining some physical capabilities on their long walk


At the start of The Wild Silence, removed from being completely surrounded by the natural world and with more limited physical exertion, Moth’s illness is again starting to progress. Ray is feeling anxious and contained in their small town and both feel a pull back to a “wild green life” on a small farm. The farm is offered freely, but requires trust in the offer and the person who makes it. A hard call for a couple who have been so badly betrayed by a friend in the past


For me, at its heart this is a book about learning to let go. On one level, it’s about learning to let go of fear and making a leap of faith. But more than that, it’s about preparing to let go of someone that you love even when they’re still with you; trying not to let the fear of loss consume the time remaining, knowing when to push along and when to pull back and let be. The delicate dance of love and loss that happens in the face of life-limiting and life-threatening illness.
“But Moth’s hand was still in mine and as the light wrapped us in curtains of infinity I held it just a little less tightly. Whatever was lost or found in life he would always be a part of this. A part of the charged movement of molecules from the earth to the universe”


A second beautifully written memoir from Raynor Winn that brought a lump to my throat at various points. Anticipatory grief and grief itself is such a strange beast isn’t it. We can feel so isolated in our loss and yet it’s such a universal experience.
Whakawhetai ki a koe Raynor for this taonga

[Clarissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe so viel Zuneigung und Bewunderung für Ray und Moth und ihre Beziehung und wünsche ihnen nur das Beste und ein langes gemeinsames Leben und ich werde dankbar alles lesen, was Ray schreibt.
Trotzdem war ich hier leider etwas enttäuscht, das Buch fühlt sich wie der klassische zweite Teil einer Trilogie an, interessanterweise gibt es ja auch schon ein drittes Buch von ihr, hier ist einfach nicht sooo viel passiert und alles schien irgendwie im Übergang zu sein und es schien Winn ein Bedürfnis zu sein, über diese Übergangsphase zu schreiben.
Erst ab ca. Seite 170 beginnt ihre Zeit, in der sie sich der Renaturierung einer wunderbaren Farm widmen und ab ca. Seite 240 beginnt ihre Island-Wanderung, vorher gibt es viel Retrospektive und Nachdenklichkeit und eine Art Making of des Buches „Der Salzpfad“, was mir alles etwas zu ausführlich war.
Ich betone nochmal, dass ich trotzdem dankbar alles lese, was Raynor Winn schreibt, ich bin dankbar, dass sie ihr Talent für das einfangen der Natur mit uns teilt.

[Kelly Furniss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just finished The Wild Silence I have to say I enjoyed it just as much as The Salt Path. After reading the first I knew I needed the second book, this one. Through these two books I have been in awe & shock. I have laughed and cried, shook my head in disgust, smiled broadly and been inspired to walk the paths. The thing that hugely stands out is the couples closeness, they are true soulmates who found each other at such a young age and have shared the good times and bad. Their individual passion for nature and the outdoors combined together when things got the hardest ever & they both craved this shared passion (part on a whim) & I believe on reflection it was therapeutic to Moth. The books really were an example of the human survival instinct when faced with adversity. You can't help feeling how you would have handled these situations?.
I was consumed by these books and really enjoyed listening to them on audio.

[Susanna Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as The Salt Path. Rather jumbled and episodic. Still worth reading.

[Margaret Galbraith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous sequel to “Salt Path” continues the journey of Ray and her husband Moth’s adventures. The power of getting your mind and body over every obstacle thrown at you from every corner is shown throughout this book. It was such a joy to read and it made me thankful for all I have even if I have bad days too.

Ray and Moth are given another chance on the land but then she sees her husband’s decline. Off they got again in another expedition where you’d least expect them to go … read the book and follow their journey.

[Rafa Willisch · Rating 1 out of 5]

https://observer.co.uk/news/national/...

[Jane Wilson-Howarth · Rating 1 out of 5]

It seems that there are a lot of untruths in Winn's writing

[Kelly Eeckhaut · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik herinnerde me van The Salt Path niet zo veel details, maar wel dat ik hield van de natuurbeschrijvingen van Raynor. In een periode dat ik moet rusten omwille van een blessure (door te wandelen, ha!), greep ik - niet doelbewust - naar The Wild Silence, en bevond ik me daardoor toch op een manier dichter bij de natuur.

In haar tweede boek gaat Raynor verder op de gebeurtenissen na de South West Coast Path. Ze beschrijft de periode aan het sterfbed van haar moeder, hoe Moth de draad oppikt en omgaat met zijn gezondheid, waarom ze The Salt Path begint te schrijven en wat daarop volgt … Een beetje van alles, telkens in detail beschreven. En dan komt de beslissing om The Iceland Trail te wandelen. Hoewel dat deel (een derde van het boek) er maar wat achteraan gezwierd leek, en het verslag mij vooral leert dat ik de Trail best NIET doe als de winter eraankomt, slaagde Raynor er opnieuw goed in om me te laten meekijken door haar ogen.

Grote fan van haar beschrijvingen van de natuur en ‘the great outdoors’, maar soms werd het verhaal of de houding van Raynor voor mij iets te deprimerend / negatief. Er zat ook misschien iets te veel in, maar goed, ze beschrijft dan ook gewoon haar leven en in het leven gebeurt er soms ook te veel door elkaar, zeker? Ik lees sowieso ook haar volgende boek(en) nog.

[David Seymour · Rating 3 out of 5]

I looked forward to The Wild Silence after the very enjoyable Salt Path but was sadly disappointed. I so wanted to follow Ray and Moth’s continued journey at the Polruan Chapel, their new community involvement and his Falmouth University experiences which was lacking. It was sad to hear Ray’s difficult experiences with her mums health and even her unhappy childhood. Their undoubted progress on the farm project was underplayed and dealing with day to day issues including renovation and even cider production would have improved the storyline no end.The lengthy Icelandic trip content added nothing other than Moth’s personal challenges. It really seemed like a trip from hell. Come on Ray, your writing skills are worthy of more than this but will no doubt read your next novel.