Raynor Winn's Previously Undisclosed First Book
Raynor Winn, author of the acclaimed 2018 book The Salt Path, which chronicles a transformative walking journey, had repeatedly asserted that it was the first book she had ever written. However, it has emerged that she authored a book published in 2012 under the pseudonym Izzy Wyn-Thomas.
In the podcast Secrets of the Salt Path, Winn's legal representatives confirmed on her behalf that she had indeed written this earlier work. The book was published by a company owned by Winn and her husband, Moth, and was sold as part of a prize draw offering their home in north Wales as a prize.
Winn gained several accolades for The Salt Path, including a £10,000 prize awarded to debut novelists or non-fiction writers. An investigation by The Observer in 2025 also raised concerns about misleading information in the book regarding Winn's life story.
Despite these revelations, Winn had consistently maintained that The Salt Path was her first written work. In a 2020 interview with Waterstones, she stated:
"It's the first thing I've written since I was a teenager leaving school – the first thing."
Her husband, Moth, when asked in the same interview if he knew she could write before completing The Salt Path (which was later adapted into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs), replied:
"No, not at all. Not that she could write. Surprised me."
In a 2019 interview with BBC Radio Cornwall about her path to publication, Raynor said:
"I googled for an agent, as you do when you have no connections and no idea what you're doing."
However, the couple did have prior experience in writing and publishing. Raynor had written a book published by their own company in 2012.
Raynor Winn issued an online statement explaining:
"In desperation, we briefly tried running a book-based house raffle like others had done, but quickly realised it was a mistake."
Gangani Publishing, the company behind the earlier book, was established in March 2012 and registered to an industrial estate near Bangor, Gwynedd. Companies House records list Tim Walker as director and Sally Walker as a shareholder, which are the legal names of Raynor and Moth Winn, who were residing near Pwllheli in north Wales at the time.
Gangani Publishing appears to have released only one book, titled How Not to Dal Dy Dir, authored by Izzy Wyn-Thomas. The name "Gangani" refers to a historic Celtic tribe in Wales, and "Dal Dy Dir" is a Welsh nationalist phrase meaning "stand your ground."
It is estimated that only a limited number of copies of How Not to Dal Dy Dir were printed, making them difficult to locate. The National Library of Wales records it as Izzy Wyn-Thomas's first and only book.
The online description of the book characterizes it as a "darkly humorous novel that uses the deftest touch to draw a thread through the lives of Welsh farmers, city accountants, Indian hoteliers and Eisteddfod mums."
Matt Swarbrick, a farmer from Henbant near Caernarfon, recalled discovering the book after seeing it advertised on an online forum for smallholders:
"I was really hungry for people who had done what we'd done and their stories, and this popped up as part of that."
"I remember being excited about the book because I had to buy it off their own website and it felt like we were on maybe a similar journey."
Swarbrick, who had purchased an abandoned farm near the Winns in north Wales, said:
"To me it felt like there was a journey of exploring relationships with neighbours and people around them. I think some of those were healthy relationships and maybe some were more complicated."
Online posts attributed to Izzy Wyn-Thomas, seen by the BBC, claimed that a local bookshop owner named Steve refused to stock the book. A bookshop in Pwllheli is operated by Stephen Lloyd Wright, who could be the "Steve" referenced.
Stephen Wright commented:
"I'd have to say, if I did refuse to stock it, I've got absolutely no recollection whatsoever of the conversation. That would probably be the first book by a local author that I've ever refused to stock."
He acknowledged knowing the couple from his shop:
"Sally wasn't particularly familiar to me. Tim, on the other hand, was quite a regular customer. A very outgoing person, he seemed to be pretty open about his life."
However, Wright was unaware that Tim was involved in publishing:
"You would've thought, as director of the publishing house, he may well have said, you know, 'would you like to help me out?' Since he was kind enough to be a customer of mine, I would've reciprocated but that never happened."
The BBC inquired with Raynor Winn whether this was the same Steve mentioned in the online posts, but did not receive a response. Stephen Wright is the only bookseller by that name in Pwllheli.
The Walkers also approached another Welsh language bookshop in Pwllheli with copies of How Not to Dal Dy Dir, which stocked five copies. The owner remarked:
"I was interested in the title. But when I looked at the book, I realised it was not what I thought it was. It is quite odd to choose that phrase as the title. They didn't give it much of a chance to sell."
Gangani Publishing attempted to market the book online. In mid-2012, they posted on an online forum called The Accidental Smallholder, which supports smallholders and gardeners, advertising that anyone who bought the book would be entered into a prize draw to win their friend's house, which they had to relinquish due to ill health.
Swarbrick, who purchased the book after seeing the post, recalled vaguely the prize draw but did not remember further communication with the publishers after his purchase.
The online post's details were inaccurate. The house offered as the prize was actually Raynor and Moth Winn's own home, Pen Y Maes near Pwllheli.
The couple advertised the property as a prize "offered free of mortgage or any other legal or registered charge."
However, Land Registry documents reveal the house had an existing mortgage and debt registered against it. It is claimed that Raynor embezzled approximately £64,000 from her former employer, Martin Hemmings, and repaid the loan with interest. The debt, passed to another lender in 2010, carried an 18% interest rate.
Offering a property with an outstanding debt as a mortgage-free prize could constitute fraud. Nonetheless, there is no record of Gangani Publishing being investigated by the local authority, Cyngor Gwynedd. The council confirmed that, given the time elapsed, they have no plans to investigate the matter.
In a written online statement in July 2025, Winn acknowledged working for Hemmings "in the years before the economic crash of 2008":
"For me it was a pressured time. It was also a time when mistakes were being made in the business. Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry."
She also admitted that she and Moth were responsible for the prize draw:
"It was a mistake, as it clearly wasn't going to work. We cancelled it and refunded the few participants."
Raynor Winn had never previously admitted to writing the book, but her solicitors have now confirmed her authorship of How Not to Dal Dy Dir.
The BBC posed multiple questions to both Raynor and Moth Winn and requested an interview for Secrets of the Salt Path, which they declined.
Recognition and Awards
In 2019, Winn was awarded the Christopher Bland Prize for The Salt Path. According to the Royal Society of Literature's website, the prize is:
"an annual award of £10,000 for a debut novelist or non-fiction writer first published in any form aged 50 or over."
The BBC asked the Royal Society of Literature if the new information about Winn's prior publication affected the prize. They responded that in 2019, entries from writers who had previously self-published were permitted. The rules were changed the following year.
Winn's fourth book, published by Penguin, was scheduled for release in October 2025 but was postponed indefinitely due to the author's "considerable distress." In December 2025, Penguin updated the release date to January 2028.
Penguin Michael Joseph, the publisher of The Salt Path, did not respond to the BBC's questions but previously stated that it "undertook all the necessary due diligence" prior to releasing The Salt Path, following various claims about the book's accuracy.
