You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir

Memoir is an ancient genre, having existed alongside fiction and poetry since the beginnings of recorded literature. The name is derived from the Latin memoria, meaning “memory” or “remembrance.” In memoir writing, the author speaks in first person and explores personal history. In the first century, Julius Caesar presented his experiences during war in the three-volume memoir Commentarii de Bello Civili. Since Caesar, many authors have redefined the genre. In 1782, Jean-Jacques Rousseau gave an intimate portrayal of his life in Confessions, inspiring the contemporary tell-all. Angela’s Ashes, the 1996 memoir by Frank McCourt, explores McCourt’s childhood and his experiences with abuse and poverty. In the 21st century, self-publishing and the internet have made memoir writing more accessible than ever, and the genre continues to grow.

In 2016, Maggie Smith, a poet with modest name recognition in the poetry community, went viral for her poem “Good Bones,” which channeled the mixture of anger and determination many Americans felt in the wake of that year’s presidential election. You Could Make This Place Beautiful examines the way her life changed as a result of her new fame, but it also reflects upon her history leading up to 2016. Smith’s memoir contributes a unique structure and format to the genre. The chapters are short; most are fewer than two pages and many are less than one paragraph in length. In an interview with Amy Reardon for BOMB Magazine, Smith explains that she feels more adept at constructing smaller pieces: “The process of tackling a book of this size for me was only possible if I did it my way, and my way is by writing small” (“Maggie Smith Interviewed by Amy Reardon.” BOMB Magazine, 2023). Smith builds on her foundation as a poet and applies those skills to a new field of writing.

Repetition, an important tool in the poet’s toolbox, is used heavily throughout the book. For example, the chapter title “A Friend Says Every Book Begins with an Unanswerable Question” is repeated twelve times in the book. Each time, Smith presents the reader with a different question, each one indicating something she is wrestling with in the moment. These questions reveal the process of loss and grief that Smith experiences as a result of her divorce.

“The Play” is another chapter title that is repeated. In these vignettes, Smith describes her experiences as though retelling the narrative of a play. She examines her identity through the lens of the audience—first as The Wife, then the Mother, and, later, The Finder.

Other repeated chapters include “Some People Ask,” “Bittersweet,” and “Ghost Story.” In “Some People Ask,” Smith grapples with the frequent questions she receives from well-intentioned friends and acquaintances. Simply posed questions have complicated answers. “Bittersweet” is revealed as a word that punctuates Smith’s experience. For her son’s first birthday party without his father, Smith bakes a cake from a cookbook titled Bittersweet. A cabin she and her husband visit together has the same name. “Ghost Story” explores the many ways in which Smith’s house is haunted, first by her own body—invisible to her husband—and then by a sense of “family” no longer alive.

The use of repetition brings larger context to Smith’s story. She explains that living in the house where she once lived with her husband is inhabiting a repetitive poem. All around her are the memories and symbols of her past. The tool of repetition in the memoir invites the reader into this pattern of memory. Smith redefines memoir by breaking away from a retelling of the past and embracing a cyclical telling of the present.