Ring of Salt: Finding home and hope on the Wild Coast of Ireland

Author: Cornwell, Betsy

Biography & True Stories

Published on 9 October 2025 by John Murray Press (Renegade Books) in the United Kingdom.

On her son's first birthday, Betsy Cornwell fled her home, checking into a hotel under a false name so her husband couldn't find them. In the uncertain months that followed, her fierce determination to give her child what she never had - a safe and stable home - saved them.

In Ring of Salt, Betsy traces her journey from that desperate moment to Ireland's windswept west coast, where the Atlantic Ocean crashes against ancient cliffs. There, nestled beside a quiet lake in the wilds of Connemara, she discovers a long-abandoned knitting factory - forgotten, but full of possibility. She sets out to restore it into a sanctuary for herself and her son - and, eventually, a creative refuge for single mothers.

As she renovates the crumbling house and fights to keep custody of her son, Betsy begins to rebuild something more: a sense of belonging. In the cool mists of the countryside, and with the help of fellow survivors and an unexpected community, she pieces together a new kind of family.

Mixing Maid's gripping portrait of single motherhood with Wintering's wild, romantic sense of place, this is a powerful memoir of survival, new beginnings, and the quiet, everyday magic of finding home on one of the world's most storied and soul-stirring coastlines.