04 December 2023

You Could Make This Place Beautiful - Book Review

You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir by Maggie Smith
Publication: April 11, 2023
Pages: 320 pages
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars ☆☆☆☆☆
Sweet Spark: Sure, I could make any place beautiful, but why is is always my responsibility? Maggie Smith takes an honest look at her marriage after it has ended.


I really, really enjoyed this book. While the author is already a very successful poet, this is the first thing I've read from her. As I read it at an event, someone stopped me to comment how much they enjoy her writing. I may just do the same if I saw someone else reading this now. Her descriptions of the emotions she chooses to share, and sometimes even why she chooses to share or not share something, resonated regularly. I've read books before that had one part I found so striking, but in this memoir, it happened again and again.

A book that seem to cover a lot of time surrounding a breakup and divorce could end up being one-sided and confrontational, but in this case, it was about the events, and the author's emotions. She didn't want you to necessarily agree or disagree - or pick winners or losers - but just to bear witness to what she was sharing.

Overall, I loved this book and rated it 5 out of 5 stars. I'd recommend it to women who enjoy family stories, and maybe even someone who isn't used to reading a lot. Each anecdote was really just a page or two, which made it an easy book to pick up and set down repeatedly.


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