Horse Whisperer Author Poisoned

The author of the novel that inspired a Robert Redford film has become seriously ill after eating mushrooms gathered on a holiday trip to the Scottish Highlands.

Horse Whisperer writer Nicholas Evans, 58, his wife Charlotte, her brother Sir Alistair Gordon-Cumming, 54, and his wife Lady Louise, 46, mistakenly consumed Cortinarius Speciosissimus, which can cause renal failure. All are now on dialysis in Aberdeen, Scotland, but are said to be recovering.

Evans was struggling with £65,000 of debt when Robert Redford bought the film rights for his unfinished debut novel, The Horse Whisperer, for a record £3 million in 1995.