A POCKETFUL OF HAPPINESS

By RICHARD E GRANT Simon & Schuster As Grant’s wife, Joan Washington, lay dying of cancer in 2021 she had one last piece of advice for him. “You’re going be all all right,” she said. “Try to find a pocketful of happiness in every single day.”

In this book Grant tells his life story through the prism of their marriage. He met Joan, a renowned dialect coach, shortly after arriving in London from Eswatini in 1982, intent on making it as an actor.

When she agreed to take him on as a student and help him iron out his “colonial accent”, romance blossomed.

In this honest, poignant and often funny memoir, Grant recalls their life together, their struggle to become parents and then their joy when their daughter, Olivia, was born and how Joan supported him throughout his career – from the time he landed his landmark role in the cult classic Withnail and I right through to his Oscar nomination 30 years later for the 2018 black comedy Can You Ever Forgive Me?.

It’s not told in a linear way – instead the narrative is driven by his shock, disbelief and finally acceptance of his wife’s stage-4 lung-cancer diagnosis. Since childhood, Grant has faithfully kept a diary and he uses this to spin this heartfelt love letter to his beloved Joan. “I truly hope that my scribblings will give you an idea of why I loved her so utterly and completely,” he writes.