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A Pocketful of Happiness: A Memoir
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About This Book
Academy Award–nominated actor Richard E. Grant's "genuine and compelling" ( The New York Times ), "moving and entertaining" ( Publishers Weekly , starred review) memoir about finding happiness in even the darkest of days. Richard E. Grant emigrated from Swaziland to London in 1982, with dreams of making it as an actor. Unexpectedly, he met and fell in love with a renowned dialect coach Joan Washington. Their relationship and marriage, navigating the highs and lows of Hollywood, parenthood, and loss, lasted almost forty years. When Joan died in 2021, her final challenge to him was to find a "pocketful of happiness in every day." This honest and frequently hilarious memoir is written in honor of that challenge—Richard has faithfully kept a diary since childhood, and in these entries, he shares raw details of everything he has both the pain of losing his beloved wife and the excitement of their life together, from the role that transformed his life overnight in Withnail and I to his thrilling Oscar Award nomination thirty years later for Can You Ever Forgive Me? . In "one of the bravest, strongest, funniest memoirs I've ever read" (Bonnie Garmus, New York Times bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry ), A Pocketful of Happiness is a powerful, funny, and moving celebration of life's unexpected joys.
Reviews
"This territory is also, I think, somewhat uncomfortable for the reader, particularly since Grant pads out his narrative with glitzy memories of 2019 ..."
"Grant's tender recollections effectively conjure on the page the couple's enduring connection."
"The title is twee but the content isn't ..."
"I could have done without all of that, because, like Richard E."
"Brutal, yes, but a necessary description of going behind the curtain and seeing what is pulling the ropes."
"But it's worthwhile all the same."
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