Wirral Libraries Bookbuzz discussion

To me this was a book with so many layers that might have been better written as two or three individual sections. The story of Moth's illness and the walk, the place of the homeless in society and a guide to the path.
Delightfully written, I loved the descriptions of nature and the characters they met along the way.The obvious love and devotion between the couple was both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.
Being notorious for my poor memory, I was a little dubious as to how so much detail could be remembered without copious notes being written along the way.
As a walker I understand the desire to keep walking. Even after a long and arduous day, after an hours rest there is always the pull of just one more mile. The snippets of information about geology and history etc were interesting but felt disjointed from the book, and in a completely different style so didn't quite work for me as part of the story, and perhaps should have been a separate section.
Moth's illness and how they both responded to the prognosis gained nothing but my sympathy, however I couldn't help but feel that the hardships they suffered were mostly self inflicted. A poor investment, a drawn out legal fight, homelessness, lack of money, were all choices that they made. Poor decisions, and there did seem to be some self-indulgent wallowing in self pity that could have been avoided if the proper authorities had approached. My heart went out to the university age children, abandoned by their parents.
The insight into homelessness and the contrast of the homeless hikers and the urban homeless was well handled. I was less convinced by the perceived reaction of the people they informed of their plight.
Overall though, it was an enjoyable read and Ray's style of writing, especially when describing nature is so light of touch and beautifully descriptive that it is that rather than the negatives that I carried away from the book with me.
The Wild Silence, her follow up book about the difficulty of returning to normal life, is due out in September 2020 and is already on my list of books to read.

I enjoed this book. At first I thought can all this be true? so much adversity and bad luck happening to this couple, it seemed too much for any person to deal with but deal with it they did in their own unique way.
They set off to walk the 630 miles SW Coastel Path: homeless, with a small tent, wild camping because of little money, a terminal ilness, and little else, sounds grim and it was a times. However they also discoved a freedom from material life, a kindness from strangers they didn't know existed and a deep connection to the land around them that brought them a peace and tranquility that they thought had gone forever.
Their courage and endurance is a testiment to the human spirit.

I found this book to be a good read - I was interested in the story of the author and her husband right to the end.
I do wonder how they managed to make the benefit system work for themselves whilst walking the path - Universal Credit doesn't usually look as if it can help life adventures!
I'd encourage others to read it too.