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A review by leweylibrary
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
Okay so I picked this up having a completely wrong idea of what it was 😂🙃 Listen, I see the name Maggie Smith and do not think of a poet lol
BUT I was pleasantly surprised, largely because the author IS a poet--they write the most beautiful memoirs I swear. This one centered on the author's divorce from her husband which certainly isn't a groundbreaking topic, but she writes about it in a very unique way. Some of the poetic devices did wear on me a bit (the whole "I have a friend who says every book begins with an answerable question. Mine is..." thing got obnoxious fast). My last gripe is a personal one because I don't love hearing so much about pregnancy and kids. Those things in a book would normally warrant a much lower rating from me, but the writing really was gorgeous, and I feel like there was still a lot I took away and connected with, like about relationships and their ebs, flows, and endings.
BUT I was pleasantly surprised, largely because the author IS a poet--they write the most beautiful memoirs I swear. This one centered on the author's divorce from her husband which certainly isn't a groundbreaking topic, but she writes about it in a very unique way. Some of the poetic devices did wear on me a bit (the whole "I have a friend who says every book begins with an answerable question. Mine is..." thing got obnoxious fast). My last gripe is a personal one because I don't love hearing so much about pregnancy and kids. Those things in a book would normally warrant a much lower rating from me, but the writing really was gorgeous, and I feel like there was still a lot I took away and connected with, like about relationships and their ebs, flows, and endings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting