An Ocean and a Day (Hannah Richell, 4th Estate)

Hannah Richell’s profoundly moving memoir, An Ocean and a Day, is both a tender love letter and a study of loss and hope, shaped by a devastating voyage through grief and what couldn’t be said when public attention was at its height. Richell exposes her soul and shares her experience of the first two years of widowhood following the sudden and tragic death of her husband, Matt.

Richell captures the events unfolding around her in vivid and, at times, poignant detail, demonstrating a masterful command of language. She views the world through a deeply perceptive lens and expresses her observations with clarity and emotional insight. Her descriptions of time and place are evocative and grounded within the tumultuous landscape of heartache. She articulates her journey through grief with poise and honesty; nothing is sugar-coated, and her anguish reads raw on the page. However, she explores her experience with strength and grace as she navigates this life-altering event. Small glimpses of levity and joy are peppered throughout, alongside poignant reflections on the early days of Hannah and Matt’s relationship, from courtship to marriage, backpacking to parenthood, and the devastating but beautifully perfect final goodbye.

An Ocean and a Day is a gift for those who have suffered the loss of someone so dearly loved. Much like Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, it offers a glimmer of hope in a seemingly endless well of sorrow.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Kate Frawley is a former bookseller. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

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