An Ocean and a Day

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 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

In 2014, author Hannah Richell was living a happy and fulfilled life in Sydney. Married, with two young children, she was in the middle of writing her new novel when the police knocked at her door to tell her that her husband, Matt, had been killed in a surfing accident at Tamarama beach. An Ocean and a Day is the riveting, intimate and poignant story of the 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 offer perspective and hope.

Life-affirming and illuminating, An Ocean and a Day is a book about love and loss, marriage and mothering, healing and hope, and how we face the hardest days of our lives. It is a book that will make you draw your loved ones close, and maybe even leave you a little transformed.

PRAISE FOR AN OCEAN AND A DAY:

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

'So much love in every beautiful word. My heart hurt so much and yet I could not look away. The writing is vital and filled with so much sorrow and so much love. Sublime.' Favel Parrett, There Was Still Love

'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

'Depth charges of emotion, and strength. Unputdownable' Nikki Gemmell, Wing

'Warmth, truth and wisdom live on every page of this beautiful and moving memoir about the loss of a wonderful and inspiring man ... With measured candour, a delicate touch, and a careful eye for the telling detail, Hannah Richell achieves what only the very best memoir she holds a space in which the reader can meet themselves. As you read, you realise that this profoundly generous book tells the deeper story of all our lives. It will leave you feeling more human.' Chris Cleave, Everyone Brave is Forgiven

'I love this book. So moving. So precise. Hannah has put her broken heart on the page so beautifully and I think it will help a lot of people.' - Cathy Rentzenbrink How to Feel Better

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Grief, Biography Memoir, Audiobook

Audible Audio

Published June 30, 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.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most beautifully written memoir of grief and survival that I have read. I was lucky enough to have attended an event with Hannah where she spoke about her memoir. I couldn’t put it down, it was such a thought provoking book that makes you think we should all enjoy each day as we do t know what it will hold. I’m so glad that Hannah and her children have learned to accept the tragedy in their lives and find a new happiness.

[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.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been a while since an author made me cry during most readings. The finality of death is always confronting and Richell’s experience is harrowing. The magnitude and minuteness of grief so beautifully and honestly captured.

I suspect her vulnerability is so generously shared because she knows that time means that we all nurture tender wounds, finding small comfort in the shared experience of loss amid personal expressions of grief.

There were so many things I found thought provoking but one was our desire to name someone is ‘strong’ because it’s easier for us to stomach rather than sitting with someone in despair. Richell also reminded readers of the hard learnt reality that the sharpness of death only comes when you’ve known deep love.

Would highly recommend but would also suggest you keep tissues handy.

[Ros Gaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and detailed story of grief and loss, as useful as a guide for the bereaved as it is an account of a death and its ramifications.

[Jacki (Julia Flyte) · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolutely beautiful memoir. Novelist Hannah Richell was in her late 30s, the mother of two young children, when her husband Matt died while surfing in Sydney. Twelve years later, she has written an honest, relatable and incredibly moving book about that time.

I lived in the same Sydney suburb at the same time as Hannah. I used to see her around and about, in the butcher shop or the supermarket, and I attended an event she gave at the local library. I didn’t know her, but I could tell she was a very nice woman. When Matt died it was all over the news – he was the CEO of Hachette Australia and by all accounts a much loved man. I don’t remember seeing her after that, but I wish I’d found a way to express my condolences.

I really like how honestly she writes. She doesn’t try to pretend it was a perfect marriage, because what marriage is? It was a strong, loving, real relationship. Until the day she came home to find two police officers waiting for her with the news that no one wants to ever hear. She was poleaxed. And yet she had to find a way to keep going and console her children in their grief, even when she just wanted to rage or sob or despair.

She talks about all the things that widows don’t talk about. Finding numbing solace in crap TV. Feeling so angry she wanted to hurl things. Feeling guilt about not having been a “better” wife. The aching loneliness. No longer being invited to events when it’s all couples. Feeling guilty about missing a physical partner. Not knowing what the right way to support her children is.

This is a raw and emotional read, but it’s also tender and life affirming. A reminder to appreciate every day with our loved ones and a reminder that we can withstand more than we think, that we can move on even from the unthinkable and find happiness again.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early in the book, Hannah tells us how she met Matt in 2001. A week later, two planes flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. 9/11 shattered a horrified world as it watched the disaster play out in front of our eyes. In August 2001, I lost my partner of twelve years, suddenly and unexpectedly from natural causes. He was only 49 years old. Three weeks later, 9/11 happened.

I had known grief prior to August 2001 and I would know it again in the years that followed with the loss of both my parents, a brother, then a sister, other relatives and friends. I lost count of the number of times I heard 'time heals', enough to want to scream that you are wrong...time does not heal. What I have discovered about grief and time is that it gives us the distance to look back on so many times of happiness, laughter and tears with our lost loved ones. Time allows us to look back at the memories and smile.

I knew when I heard about this book that I would somehow connect with Hannah's story so, having read other books by her, I pre-ordered this book knowing nothing about the timeline until I began reading the book.

Thank you Hannah for sharing such a personal and private time with us and allowing us to know just a little bit about Matt. I wish you and your children happiness, peace and love.

[Órlaith · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was as if she was telling my story. Different circumstances but the sole destroying grief that followed is the same. Life lived as before loss and after loss and how those small moments create memories not necessarily the anniversaries, birthdays and celebrations. To say I loved it isn’t right, but boy did I connect with it and what she experienced after the sudden death of her husband truly resonated. Boy, did the tears flow reading this one.

[EmG ReadsDaily · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[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.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

*AUDIBLE SIGH*

Where do I start to find the words I need for a review of this beautiful, heartfelt memoir?

I think I'll start by saying, it feels like a precious gift.

I found myself moved so much by Hannah Richell's, words that I had to pause the audio book and just...breathe.

It is written with so much vulnerability, honesty, rawness, despair and sometimes anger, that I found it very deep and emotionally challenging. Yet - this is what makes this book so very special. I don't often cry when reading or listening to books, but this one had the tears flowing. At one point I scared myself (and a few fellow dog walkers) with audible sobs, that seemed to just escape my mouth without warning.

The way Hannah not only describes her grief, but infuses it with hope and joy....and ultimately LOVE is simply transcendent!

I have not experienced this sort of grief -yet- in my life, but I know it is highly likely ahead of me at some point. This memoir has given me a glimpse into it, a tangible experience of it. One that may enable this grief, when it comes, to be more easily endured. It is Hannah's roadmap through grief and loss, but I am sure I will be able to use some of her directions and detours, to create my own sideroads through it.

I will be forcing this book into the hands and hearts of all my freinds that read - including my fellow bookclubbers, because it is an absolute MUST. It is just so friggin beautiful.

Thank you Hannah, for sharing this most personal and amazing work.

[Elizabeth Currie · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know there is something special about a book when you turn the final page, put it down, wipe away the tears - and just want to sit quietly with your own thoughts. And that is just how this remarkable memoir, a story of love and loss which is out later this month, made me feel as I hid behind my thankfully large sunglasses.

I knew Hannah as the author of some excellent thrillers - but had no idea that she had suffered the unimaginable tragedy of having lost her husband Matt in a surfing accident in 2014, leaving her and her two young children learning to navigate life without him.

It's a raw and very honest account of Hannah's grief journey, that also takes us right back to the beginning of her and Matt's relationship from their first encounter in London to their life in Australia that they built together.

It's hard to articulate just how beautifully written this is as Hannah lays bare just how complicated the grief process is, from the minutiae of the day to day to the bone-crushing sadness and sometimes anger that results. But through it all lies a message of hope, of resilience and a reminder that happiness and sorrow can co-exist.

A book that will resonate with so many - few of us navigate life untouched by grief in some form. Thank you Hannah for the enormous privilege afforded in sharing some of the hardest moments in your life.

[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.

[Nicola Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

In July 2014, Hannah Richell’s husband Matt died in a surfing accident in Australia. Devastated and with two small children to take care for, she started to write down her feelings and experiences and An Ocean and a Day is Hannah’s memoir, not only of the years that followed and how she dealt with her overwhelming grief, but also of how she and Matt met and their life together before the accident.

An Ocean and a Day is an exquisitely written, honest and incredibly moving memoir. It’s a love story, the story of a marriage to a soulmate, of moving halfway across the world, having children and making a life there. From page 1 I was stunned by the beauty of the writing. I’ve read some of her fiction so I know how good a writer she is, but in this book Hannah Richell is so very eloquent on love and loss. The tears sprang to my eyes often as she tried to learn how to manage the effects of the sudden of shocking news, not only on herself but on her children too, whilst somehow navigating her way into a new and unwanted life without Matt.

This book is unflinching in its portrayal of the rawness of grief but it’s also inspirational in many ways, the bravery and strength of the author shining through from every page. I thought it was beautiful and profound.

[Jay Dwight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been doing a bit of grief reading this year. Some wonder why, and Hannah explains it simply for me - There's a kinship in it. While you are feeling so horribly alone, it does help to realise others are feeling in similar ways.

Whilst everyone's grief path is unique to them, of the readings I have done, this is the closest parallel to my own. I cried an enormous amount reading this one, and that's OK. It's beautiful, it's raw, it's confronting, it's gut-wrenching. But it's so open and honest. It's helpful, it's cathartic.

Hannah was brave enough to share some of the things in my head re my experience that I haven't been brave enough to share with anyone else. I am grateful reading this one was suggested to me, and I am extremely appreciative that Hannah had the courage to share this with the world. There are many beautiful passages I have saved and will quote as it far better expresses some of my feelings that my inner author could ever articulate.

[Gabriela Bourke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to find the words for this one. Richell's account of grieving her husband is told with humour, generosity and profundity and I read it mostly through a film of tears. There is an incredible bravery to this story, not just in the living of it, but in the writing, rendering an experience so painful and personal onto the page and letting strangers take from it what they will. For me, this book serves as a reminder of the transience of life and the importance of holding loved ones close. And I'll always think of Matt Richell when I see a swallow.

[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.

[Melissa Parenty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book to read while I was travelling, as I am part of a team who will be hosting a retreat for woman who suffer loss and grief later this year. It was such a beautifully written book, so honest and full of a depth of love that was a great privilege to read about. Also highly informative regarding the different stages of grief.

[Siobhan Kennelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful poignant memoir of love and loss- I loved how it went back and forward in time and was a wonderfully evocative story of a real relationship and reinforced how life can change in a moment and that you should never take life for granted. It also showed that huge grief means a huge love came before it and that therefore it is worth it.

[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.

[Nikki Wild · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow ! Really makes you think about life and what really matters . I found so many lovely quotes in there .

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ebook. Beautiful writing about the death of a partner and the grief that follows.

[Renée Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 🌟’s - the most beautifully written memoir about the deepest kinds of love, unfathomable loss and the gift of being alive.

[Caroline King · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully. written book

[Elizabeth]

Moving book about loss, relationships, family and love. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Tissues required 😔

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gather all the tissues. You'll need them if you're planning on reading Richell's memoir about the tragic drowning of her husband, Matt.

There are many elements of this memoir that have made me put it on my 'recommended grief stories' list. Firstly, she describes the difficulty of having to mother two small children while all of them were grieving - the loneliness of this task, and her children's very different understanding of the permanence of death made for intense reading.

Secondly, Richell doesn't default to grief theories to frame her experience. Instead, she uses her and Matt's story, particularly their move from London to Sydney (across oceans) to provide a theme. Given that Matt died doing what he loved - surfing - I found the use of the ocean as a metaphor for grieving absolutely gut-wrenching.

Lastly, the memoir highlights grief in all of its forms - that the 'small' things are just as significant and as painful as the 'big' things. For example, she tells of a moment when her father let himself in the front door at the time of day when Matt would have ordinarily come home. Richell and the children freeze when they hear the key in the lock - was he back?! A moment when their hearts and bodies believed something different to what they knew in their minds. This, alongside the 'big' moments such as scattering Matt's ashes, demonstrate the wild, tumultuous thing that grief is, and reminds us that we have very little control.

4/5

[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.