'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.

"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 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 *

"A beautiful book . . . stunning" - * Oprah Daily *

"Beautifully written . . . Smith should be just as celebrated for her prose" - * Town and Country *