--- description: Find out why "You Could Make This Place Beautiful" by Maggie Smith is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'You Could Make This Place Beautiful' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ff32b2598fe5eef/698a4204b21a9c41ac507c30/YouCouldMakeThisPlaceBeautiful.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2023 # You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  In her memoir _You Could Make This Place Beautiful_, poet Maggie Smith mines the [dissolution of her marriage](https://time.com/6263762/maggie-smith-divorce-room-essay/ "undefined") 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](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781982185855 "undefined") | [Amazon ](https://amzn.to/49E4STJ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332472/you-could-make-this-place-beautiful/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332472/you-could-make-this-place-beautiful/"},"headline":"You Could Make This Place Beautiful","datePublished":"2023-11-14T12:30:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:25:24.271Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332472/you-could-make-this-place-beautiful/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ff32b2598fe5eef/698a4204b21a9c41ac507c30/YouCouldMakeThisPlaceBeautiful.jpg?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/blt5ff32b2598fe5eef/698a4204b21a9c41ac507c30/YouCouldMakeThisPlaceBeautiful.jpg?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/must-read-books-2023/6332472/you-could-make-this-place-beautiful/","name":"You Could Make This Place Beautiful"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WppeqCEz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-11-13T19:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WppeqCEz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332472/you-could-make-this-place-beautiful/","duration":"PT1M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332472/you-could-make-this-place-beautiful/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```