These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser.
In her memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful, poet Maggie Smith mines the dissolution of her marriage as the starting point for a meditation on her life and the roles she’s assumed during it: wife, mother, daughter, artist, woman. Drawing its name from the final line of her viral 2016 poem, “Good Bones,” the book shows how the fame and success Smith experienced exacerbated the cracks in her marriage. Working through her grief over her divorce with tenacity, humor, and grace, Smith offers a thoughtful and vulnerable portrait of the possibilities after heartbreak. —Cady Lang
Buy Now: You Could Make This Place Beautiful on Bookshop | Amazon
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Donald Trump Is TIME's 2024 Person of the Year
- Why We Chose Trump as Person of the Year
- Is Intermittent Fasting Good or Bad for You?
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
- The 20 Best Christmas TV Episodes
- Column: If Optimism Feels Ridiculous Now, Try Hope
- The Future of Climate Action Is Trade Policy
- Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby Decision
