An Ocean and a Day: A powerful and poignant memoir on grief, loss and hope, from the internationally bestselling author of The Search Party

by Hannah Richell

An utterly riveting, moving and poignant memoir of grief and loss that will speak to anyone who's ever lost someone they love.


An Ocean and a Day is Hannah Richell's personal account of losing her husband, Matt, in a surfing accident on Tamarama beach in 2014. It is the story of the grief journey she travelled over the first two years of loss, but it is also, more uniquely, an account of what happens beyond those early years, when time and distance offers some perspective and healing. As well as a beautiful, moving and utterly poignant love letter to her late husband, it is also a love letter to Australia, the country that stole her heart; the story of her journey into motherhood; and a testament to the healing power of creativity.

A riveting, moving and uplifting memoir of love and pain, grief and hope, An Ocean and a Day will resonate with anyone who's ever lost someone they love. Offering solidarity to other broken hearts, this book is about how we face the hardest days of our lives - and its many gritty little pearls of insight and hard-won wisdom will spark conversations about how we confront, discuss and process the very real, very human experience of loss in our modern, often secular age. Intimate, powerful and profound, An Ocean and a Day will join the canon of those classic memoirs of loss and abrupt, unwanted life changes such as Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, Amy Bloom's In Love and Geraldine Brooks's Memorial Days.

'A searing reflection on the fragility of life which never loses sight of the miraculous beauty of being alive.' Leigh Sales, Any Ordinary Day

'Hannah Richell writes about grief and its aftermath with excoriating honesty and with exceptional beauty. A work of great tenderness, a celebration of love and of life. I loved it.' Kathryn Heyman, Circle of Wonders

'Raw, unflinching, tender, hopeful -Richell pulled me through her loss as if it were my own. This is grief writing at its very best.' Emma Grey, The Last Love Note

Genres: Memoir, Grief, Biography Memoir

276 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 1, 2026

About the author

I am the author of six published novels, my latest being the crime thriller One Dark Night. I am releasing my first work of non-fiction, An Ocean and a Day, in 2026. This is a deeply personal memoir about love, loss and the moments that make a lifetime.

While each of my novels is a stand-alone story, what connects them all is my fascination with families and secrets, my desire to dive below the surface and explore the darker recesses of the human experience, the weight of grief and the echoes of loss, the light and resilience that can be found in unexpected places, combined with my ambition to tell you a cracking story that will keep you turning the pages late into the night.

I am a judge on the annual Richell Prize, established in 2014 by Hachette and the Emerging Writers’ Festival in memory of my late husband, Matt Richell.

I am a dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom but currently live in the South West of England with my family.

Reviews

[Claire Fuller]

In 2014 Hannah Richell's husband Matt died in a surfing accident in Sydney. This is the story of how they met and fell in love, their move to Australia, the two children they had together, the shock of the day Matt died, how she got through the immediate aftermath and how she's healed in the subsequent ten years. It's about keeping going.
This memoir is intense, honest, and incredibly moving. It's written in a beautifully plain way, telling it as it was, and as it is.

[Anna Loder · Rating 5 out of 5]

So poignant, so moving, so heartfelt and so beautiful. Not having lost anyone, I was afraid I would be grieving voyeuristically (if that’s even a phrase?) but this is a beautiful account of love, loss and grief..out in July and thank you so much to Harper Collins for the arc. What a gift

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley, and this is my honest review. An Ocean and a Day is an incredibly moving and beautifully written memoir about love, loss, and learning how to carry grief.

Following the sudden death of her husband, Hannah Richell reflects on the life they shared, the overwhelming reality of bereavement, and the impact it has on both herself and her family. She writes with honesty and vulnerability about the physical and emotional toll of grief, how it changes over time, and how, gradually, she begins to rebuild a life that will never be the same.

Some passages hit very close to home, and I found myself pausing to reflect on my own experiences. Although heartbreaking, this is ultimately a compassionate memoir that acknowledges there is no right way to grieve and no timeline for healing. Instead, it gently reminds us that it is possible to carry both sorrow and hope at the same time.

It isn't always an easy read, but I think it will resonate deeply with many readers, particularly those who have experienced significant loss. It was a thoughtful, beautifully written memoir that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

[Órlaith · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exquisite memoir of love and grief. Read in 3 days, too beautiful to put down.

[Books By Your Bedside · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I won't review as I would a standard novel. I don't want to comment on any errors or the "characters" or whether the story flows. This story is one that transcends the book and instead I will comment on how I feel about the book and what it meant to me.

As someone who had experienced grief and bereavement and heartbreak too frequently, I have made it my mission to read as many books about it as possible, if only to find some familiar words, to find comfort. And Hannah's is my latest one and my gosh is it beautiful.

Her words are exquisite. Grief is a funny thing, it feels so powerful and yet you rarely have to words to explain it, but she's done it exactly right.

I normally make notes as I read a review book, but I couldn't bear to tear myself away from this for one moment and I read it in one sitting.

Hannah has given us a mixture of pre-accident and post-accident scenes. This gives us a background into their relationship which then means the parts after she has lost her husband hit that much harder. I did enjoy these scenes a bit more than the pre-accident chapters because there was a familiarity in the grief, although I liked it all.

It's not always an easy book to read obviously. It's honest and raw and angry and brutal and very sad. But at the same time, she's managed to infuse it with hope and joy and above all, love. Love for her husband, her children, her community, and most importantly, of herself. It's so simply written, it's got such a professional touch, and it's overwhelmingly heartbreaking and heartwarming.

I cried. Of course I cried. I don't know how you can read this and not cry.

I was only half way through when I knew I would be forcing it into everyone's hands because it is just such a beautiful book to read.

[Saffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so pleased I had the opportunity to read a review copy of An Ocean and a Day, a heartbreaking, moving and hopeful memoir of grief by the author Hannah Richell, I’ve loved Hannah’s novels but didn’t know anything about her life or the death of her husband Matt in 2014 due to a surfing accident. This is a beautifully written and honest memoir, which feels like a love letter to Matt and their relationship. It moves between the beginning of their relationship in London, their move to Australia, parenthood and the aftermath of Matt’s death and Hannah’s grief. The writing is simple but beautiful and conveys the feelings it is hard to find words for when we are grieving. Hannah asks the questions of herself and her therapist that so many bereaved people will relate to, there are no answers and our grief is personal and unique but simultaneously universal and this memoir conveys that. It’s an emotional read and I was filled with sadness for Hannah and her children but there is joy and hope amongst the grief.
A book that I’m sure I will return to and recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

[Sam Seaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful, emotional insight into grief. This is an account from Hannah on how she dealt with and progressed with the agony of losing her husband. The writing is fantastic and porters both the harrowing agony she is going through but also the good days when she can see hope for the future. I found this extremely helpful to deal with my own grief. Not an easy read, but one that I will never forget.

[Tam · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's beautiful. I wept throughout. Though short enough to read in a day, I needed time to breathe, to process, to reflect. Thank you Hannah for sharing your inner most thoughts with your readers, it is appreciated.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I already know this memoir will be one of my top reads of 2026. Thank you to HarperCollins for this uncorrected reading copy.