'Life, like a poem, is a series of choices'

In her long-awaited debut memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, award-winning poet Maggie Smith explores in lyrical vignettes the end of her marriage and the beginning of a surprising new life. With the spirit of reflection and empathy she's known for, Smith interweaves snapshots of a life with meditations on secrets, anger, forgiveness and narrative itself.

It is a story about a mother's fierce and constant love for her children, and a woman's love and regard for herself. Above all, this memoir is an argument for possibility. Smith reveals how, in the aftermath of loss, we can discover our power and make something new. Something beautiful.

About the Author

Maggie Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of seven books of poetry and prose, including You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Good Bones, Goldenrod, Lamp of the Body, The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison and Keep Moving. Her newest book is My Thoughts Have Wings, her debut picture book for children, illustrated by Leanne Hatch. Smith's poems and essays have appeared in the New York Times, New Yorker, Paris Review, TIME, Nation, Atlantic and Best American Poetry.

@MaggieSmithPoet | maggiesmithpoet.com

Reviews
This book is extraordinary -- ANN PATCHETT
I am in awe of Maggie Smith's memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, for what she is willing to show us. Yes, the writing is keen and gorgeous, and yes, she tells us a hundred truths in every chapter, but most of all she allows us to witness a self crumbling, scattering and renewing . . . [A] generous, beautiful book -- KATHERINE MAY
This is a memoir of a woman who recommits to herself after heartbreak, but it's also a meditation on patriarchal power dynamics, a mother's love for her children and what that means in today's world and how to bet on yourself, even and especially when we're told not to. A balm for the soul and a rallying cry for the heart. * * Good Housekeeping * *
A composite of creativity, motherhood and determination * * New York Times * *
Rich in nuance and unrelenting in its honesty, Smith's memoir is a bittersweet study in both grief and joy * * TIME * *
[A] meditation on what it means to be a modern woman, this is as beautiful and lyrical as they come * * Red * *
Reminds you that you can [ . . . ] survive deep loss, sink into life's deep beauty, and constantly, constantly make yourself new -- GLENNON DOYLE
A poet's memoir . . . [Smith] has an uncanny ability to boil down giant ideas into tiny, dense sentences that are both playful and heartbreaking * * SHONDALAND * *
Smith turns to prose to chronicle the end of her marriage and the hard, beautiful work of loving and valuing herself * * PEOPLE * *
Smith confronts our collective desire for a clean narrative. You Could Make This Place Beautiful shows a writer wondering why we use the narrative vocabulary we have to make sense of life's ups and downs. Smith breaks the fourth wall constantly in her memoir, calling out the real-life moments that feel too on the nose, evaluating the fallout of her husband's infidelity * * Vanity Fair * *



Book Information
ISBN 9781805302421
Author Maggie Smith
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Canongate Books
Publisher Canongate Books
Weight(grams) 433g
Dimensions(mm) 220mm * 144mm * 31mm