A Pocketful of Happiness

by Richard E Grant (£20, Simon & Schuster, HB) From the effervescent actor of Withnail and I fame, comes a memoir that ricochets from career highs and Hollywood hobnobbing to the depths of despair, when his wife and soulmate Joan Washington is diagnosed with lung cancer. Presented in a diary form, the book tenderly describes the final eight months of Joan’s life, with regular dives into the past to recount how the couple first met and the way their lives intertwined for the following 38 years. Full of compassion and humour and, despite its brutal conclusion, an uplifting account of a life blessed with love.