You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir
You Could Make This Place Beautiful, like the work of Deborah Levy, Rachel Cusk, and Gina Frangello, is an unflinching look at what it means to live and write our own lives. 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 “extraordinary” (Ann Patchett) in the way that it reveals how, in the aftermath of loss, we can discover our power and make something new and beautiful.
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Community Reviews
Overall, I admire Maggie Smith’s way with words, and there were many elements of relationships — romantic, friendly , or otherwise — that struck a chord. I also appreciated that she was up front about holding back some of the details even within the memoir format; this seems both healthy, and understandable. I would be lying if I said I didn’t wish for a little more (probably just the inherent voyeurism that we all have), and toward the end, I did feel my interest starting to wane a bit.
I read this less as a memoir of divorce, and more about one woman’s journey to more self-awareness and acceptance — and for that openness, as well as for normalizing of being fully an adult and still seeking — I am grateful this book exists.
I read this less as a memoir of divorce, and more about one woman’s journey to more self-awareness and acceptance — and for that openness, as well as for normalizing of being fully an adult and still seeking — I am grateful this book exists.
This book reminded me a lot of what a good friend has gone through. I especially loved the last few lines.
Loved the insight in this book about finding yourself after divorce, hurt, damage, baggage, and sadness.
The poet Maggie Smith describes this memoir as having been written "out of the blue part of the flame", from in the midst of an unwanted divorce, rather than from a safer distance. This fact adds to the unresolved and immediate nature of the journey. As a poet, she is economical and intentional with her words, and nothing is self-indulgent or wasteful. Everything that happens on the page has a purpose and is bringing us somewhere... Even if we didn't know where yet.
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