Will I love A Pocketful of Happiness?

Richard E. Grant’s memoir is heartfelt, sincere, and memorable. When his beloved wife Joan Washington died of cancer in 2021 after almost forty years together, she set Richard a challenge: to find a pocketful of happiness in every day. The result is this book.

Set between the present day and flashbacks, this is an immensely personal and profound memoir that celebrates and cherishes life’s unexpected joys. (Okay, the endless name-dropping, whilst entertaining, was a bit jarring.)

Hilarious, tragic and profoundly sad. This one will stay with me. I’m taking Joan’s advice to find a pocketful of happiness every day. A… show more.

In 2021, actor and writer Richard E. Grant lost his wife to lung cancer.

A Pocketful of Happiness is his heartbreaking memoir of the journey from her diagnosis to her funeral. Like most people, my life has been touched by cancer and I’m all too aware of the emotional turmoil that both patients and their loved ones go through. Grant openly shares the highs and lows as his wife faces a diagnosis that can only end one way. His honest insights reflect his feelings of helplessness and disbelief, with flashbacks to happier times throughout their 38-year love story.

Her final… show more.