--- description: Find out why "Smile" by Sarah Ruhl is on TIME's list of the must-read books from this year. title: 'Smile' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 22, 2021 # Smile by Sarah Ruhl by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Shortly after giving birth to her twins, playwright Sarah Ruhl, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, discovered that the left side of her face was paralyzed. She had developed Bell’s palsy, a condition that resolves itself in a large majority of cases within three months. But as the months turned into years, Ruhl’s face remained unchanged. In her poignant memoir, Ruhl details her decade-long journey searching for a cure while raising her three children and working in theater. It’s an introspective look at a woman attempting to understand her body, how she presents herself to the world and how the world responds. Sharing wisdom on body image, motherhood and marriage, Ruhl doesn’t just underline what she’s lost in no longer being able to smile, but also what she’s gained. **Buy Now:** _Smile_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781982150945 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/30tiwcS "undefined") Smile: 100 Must-Read Books of 2021 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-must-read-books-2021/6120598/smile/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-must-read-books-2021/6120598/smile/"},"headline":"Smile","datePublished":"2021-11-22T14:29:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:58:03.376Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-must-read-books-2021/6120598/smile/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-must-read-books-2021/6120598/smile/","name":"Smile"}}]}] ```