Raynor Winn’s U.K. publisher has delayed the release of her next book and signaled its support of the embattled author, the Guardian reports.
Penguin Michael Joseph had planned to release Winn’s fourth book, On Winter Hill, in the U.K. in October, but announced that it will set a new publication date at some point in the future. The book has not been scheduled for publication in the U.S. by Penguin, which published her first two books, or by Pegasus, which published her most recent book, Landlines.
Winn was the subject of an article in the U.K. newspaper the Observer that claimed she had misrepresented facts in her bestselling debut memoir, The Salt Path. The book tells the story of Winn and her husband, Moth Winn, who embarked on a 630-mile walk after losing their home and after Moth Winn was diagnosed with corticobasal degeneration (CBD), a rare neurological condition.
The article, written by reporter Chloe Hadjimatheou, claims that the Winns did not lose their home as a result of a bad investment, as Winn wrote, but after they defaulted on a loan they had taken out to repay money that Raynor Winn allegedly embezzled from an employer. The article also cast doubt on Moth Winn’s CBD diagnosis.
Winn issued a statement this week denying the allegations, calling the article “grotesquely unfair” and “highly misleading.”
On Winter Hill also tells the story of a long walk, but one Raynor Winn undertook without her ailing husband. “Despite 45 years of walking together, setbacks in her husband, Moth’s, health have led him to see his decline as inevitable, which Raynor refuses to accept,” the publisher in a description of the book.
In a statement, Penguin Michael Joseph said, “Given recent events, in particular intrusive conjecture around Moth’s health condition which has caused considerable distress to Raynor Winn and her family, it is our priority to support the author at this time. With this in mind, Penguin Michael Joseph, together with the author, have made the decision to delay the publication of On Winter Hill from this October. We will announce a new publication date in due course.”
