A POCKETFUL OF HAPPINESS

A memorial to a cherished wife.

After emigrating from Swaziland to London in 1982, actor Grant met dialect coach Joan Washington and fell in love; in 1986, they married. A diary-keeper since childhood, the author draws on his candid entries to weave together an absorbing, moving chronicle of his deeply happy and long marriage; the miscarriages and premature birth of a daughter, who died the same day, and their joy when at last a successful pregnancy resulted in the birth of their beloved Olivia; the many highs of his acting career, including a Golden Globe Award and Oscar nomination; and the grueling 10 months between Joan’s learning that she had stage 4 lung cancer and her death in September 2021. “If this illness has begun to teach us anything,” Grant observed soon after the diagnosis, “it’s that living in the moment, for the moment, is the most positive way forward.” But that resolve was sorely tested as Joan’s condition worsened and he and Olivia needed to attend to Joan’s every need. An experimental drug gave them hope—until it failed. By August, he writes, “our night and day and night has tilted into a canyon of unease, doubt, and acute anxiety.” Friends helped: Nigella Lawson sent delectable food; Camilla Bowles and Prince Charles each sent a note early on, and later Charles stopped by for an unexpected visit. Since both Grant and his wife had long careers in theater and movies, they were close to many members of the acting elite: Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson brought ice cream and sorbet; Ralph Fiennes sent a long, affectionate letter; Emma Thompson came for tea with her adopted son, Tindy; Gabriel Byrne sat at Joan’s bedside, “plate-spinning philosophicals, anecdotage, and ruminations.” In an appendix, Grant compiles tributes to Joan from a roster of notables, including Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Fiona Shaw, and Emily Mortimer.

Ebullience and grief mark a touching memoir.