Cafe owner ‘felt sick’ after The Salt Path author ‘falsely portrayed her mother as a bully’ in best-selling book

A cafe owner has claimed she ‘felt sick’ after discovering The Salt Path author Raynor Winn had depicted her mother as a bully in the hit memoir. 

Joanna Cocking, 51, said that while the Porthmellin cafe – run by her mother – was not mentioned by name in the book, there is only one cafe in Mullion Cove. 

The 2018 memoir, which has been turned into a film, was presented by Winn as a true story about her life, but is under intense scrutiny amid claims of omissions and exaggerations. 

Upon reading a portrayal of her family business in the book, Ms Cocking told The Observer: ‘When I got sent the bit of the book that we were in, I just felt sick. I just wanted to write to the publisher and say: ”You can’t write this.”’

She added that at first she thought it must be some sort of mistake, but concluded the extract must be about her mother due to no other cafes existing in the area. 

In her memoir, Winn described how after losing their home, she and her husband ‘Moth’ – real name Timothy – walked the 630-mile South West Coast Path. 

En route, the couple stopped off at the cafe on the Lizard peninsula. 

‘A man in his twenties waited tables, cleared tables, politely dealt with grumpy customers, cut cakes, swept the floor,’ Winn wrote. 

She then described the arrival of the angry owner. ‘What the f*** do you think you’re doing? There’s two tables out there uncleared. What do I pay you for? You’re f****** lazy.’ 

Joanna Cocking said that while the Porthmellin cafe (pictured) – run by her mother – was not mentioned by name in the book, there is only one cafe in Mullion Cove

Author Raynor Winn, real name Sally Walker with her husband Tim at a screening of The Salt Path film

The film follows the story of a couple who lose their home and later discover the husband has been diagnosed with a terminal illness as they embark on a year long coastal trek

According to the memoir, the waiter handed the couple two free paninis before deciding he was quitting.

In response to the extract, Ms Cocking said: ‘When I read that, I was thinking: ”That can’t be us.” I was absolutely mortified. She never named the cafe but she might as well have because there is only one cafe in this cove.’

The cafe owner, who took over from her mother, claimed the fact that there is a cafe in Mullion Cove is the only part of the passage that is accurate. 

She added that nobody could have swept the floor because there has been carpet for years, and that her mother was a ‘typical old Cornish woman’ who would never speak like that. 

Ms Cocking also claimed that while there has been a few male waiting staff working at the cafe over the years, nobody has ever walked out. Additionally, the business has allegedly never sold paninis. 

Via her lawyers, Winn told The Observer: ‘The Salt Path is an honest account of what we lived through on the path, and I stand by it.’ 

Penguin Michael Joseph, the memoir’s publisher, called Winn’s best-selling book ‘unflinchingly honest’ – but parts of the tale have been scrutinised after claims of dishonesty emerged. 

While the author painted herself as a victim dealing with homelessness and the critical health of her husband, she has since accepted she ‘made mistakes’ after being accused of stealing from her former employer. 

Raynor Winn rose to fame in 2018 after her book The Salt Path became a bestseller

Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs starred in a movie adaptation of Sally Walker’s book

Previously, a widow who claimed Winn stole thousands of pounds from her family business claimed it destroyed her late husband’s confidence in people.

Ros Hemmings and her daughter Debbie spoke out about Ms Winn, who worked for their property business in the early 2000s as a bookkeeper.

They claim she stole around £64,000 from the family business.

An investigation by The Observer in July suggested Winn’s story about her life in The Salt Path was misleading.

The Observer claimed that Raynor and her husband Moth, real names Sally and Tim Walker, lost their money after failing to pay money they had been accused of stealing from Martin Hemmings, husband of Ros.

In a statement following The Observer investigation, Raynor Winn said: ‘The dispute with Martin Hemmings, referred to in the Observer by his wife, is not the court case in The Salt Path.

‘Nor did it result in us losing our home. Mr Hemmings is not Cooper. Mrs Hemmings is not in the book, nor is she a relative of someone who is.

‘I worked for Martin 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.’

The Daily Mail has contacted Winn’s representatives for comment on Ms Cocking’s claims.