TY  - BOOK
AU  - Smith,Maggie
TI  - You could make this place beautiful: a memoir 
SN  - 9781982185855
AV  - HQ811.5.S65 A3 2023
PY  - 2023///
CY  - New York
PB  - One Signal Publishers/Atria
KW  - Smith, Maggie,
KW  - Divorced women
KW  - United States
KW  - Biography
KW  - Women poets, American
KW  - 21st century
KW  - Divorce
KW  - Self-actualization (Psychology) in women
KW  - fast
KW  - Autobiographies
KW  - Biographies
KW  - lcgft
N1  - Includes bibliographical references
N2  - "Life, like a poem, is a series of choices." In her memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful, poet Maggie Smith explores the disintegration of her marriage and her renewed commitment to herself in lyrical vignettes that shine, hard and clear as jewels. The book begins with one woman's personal, particular heartbreak, but its circles widen into a reckoning with contemporary womanhood, traditional gender roles, and the power dynamics that persist even in many progressive homes. With the spirit of self-inquiry and empathy she's known for, Smith interweaves snapshots of a life with meditations on secrets, anger, forgiveness, and narrative itself. The power of these pieces is cumulative: page after page, they build into a larger interrogation of family, work, and patriarchy. 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 an argument for possibility. With a poet's attention to language and an innovative approach to the genre, Smith reveals how, in the aftermath of loss, we can discover our power and make something new. Something beautiful."--
ER  -