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jennifer1130's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Wow, amazing, loved this. When I saw it was non fiction I was wary, it's not normally my genre but this book is very much told as a story, the real story of a couple facing the lowest moment of their lives and trying to find purpose to continue. I would like to hope I'd be as brave as Ray and Moth in their situation but in reality I'm not sure I'd have that level of grit and determination. Hugely inspiring and heartbreaking all at the same time. I hope this book changes perspectives on homelessness and I hope many more people get to read it.
tricera_hops's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
tuesdayjones2040's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
A unique insight into homelessness and everyone should read for this alone, but it’s also a wonderful story for anyone who loves walking (and Cornwall)
thejadedhippy's review
5.0
Beyond a few quibbles I really enjoyed this book and as it definitely deserves more than 4 stars I'll give it the full five. Its everything I hoped it would be from reading the jacket.
daja57's review against another edition
5.0
Within the same week, Raynor Winn and her husband Moth lost their farmhouse home, after losing a court case, and Moth was diagnosed with an incurable terminal disease. So they decided to walk the South-West Coast path which is 630 miles along the north coast of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall from Minehead to Land's End and then along the south coast of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset from Land's End to Poole. They are incredibly short of money, trying to survive on £48 per week, so that they are having to camp wild. They often go hungry, they are almost always wet, they are often cold. Moth is frequently in pain from his disease. They walk half as fast as they expected. Being homeless they are often shunned. In every way, their decision to do this walk is crazy. And yet, being so close to nature enables them to appreciate life and thus come to terms with Moth's imminent death.
A book that is full of humour and compassion, with some brilliant descriptions of nature.
It starts with a life-and-death moment in the middle of a night as their beach-pitched tent is in danger of being overwhelmed by the incoming tide: "The man, who only two months earlier had struggled to put on his coat without help, was standing on a beach in his underpants holding an erected tent above his head with a rucksack on his back saying, run." (Prologue)
Perhaps the thing that keeps it going all the way is the audacity of their daring and the endurance in the face of so much suffering.
Did it make me want to go for a long distance walk? Yes! The memories of my long distance walks are among my most vivid. But I wouldn't want to do it the way they did.
A book that is full of humour and compassion, with some brilliant descriptions of nature.
It starts with a life-and-death moment in the middle of a night as their beach-pitched tent is in danger of being overwhelmed by the incoming tide: "The man, who only two months earlier had struggled to put on his coat without help, was standing on a beach in his underpants holding an erected tent above his head with a rucksack on his back saying, run." (Prologue)
Perhaps the thing that keeps it going all the way is the audacity of their daring and the endurance in the face of so much suffering.
Did it make me want to go for a long distance walk? Yes! The memories of my long distance walks are among my most vivid. But I wouldn't want to do it the way they did.
evavanrij's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
testaroscia's review against another edition
4.0
Although dotted with moments of great frustration the memoir is one that does bear true to doing something dumb for all the wrong reasons and it ending up being a defining moment.
hannah2896's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
2.5
An inspiring journey in a beautiful part of the country. I picked this up as I love the idea of long distance walking and quite fancy doing the South West coastal path myself. I really wanted to love this book, but the repetitive nature of it made it tedious at times and I can't help but feel like they didn't actually see themselves as homeless. I would have loved their journey to be more focused on nature and the ocean rather than their lack of ability to find campsites and shortage of money. Although this is probably representative of their thoughts, I don't think it made the book as compelling and life changing for the reader as it might have been. An inspiring read nonetheless and thought provoking at times.