You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir

A Friend Says Every Book Begins with an Unanswerable Question

This chapter poses the question “how to heal” (198).

Keep Moving

On Violet’s twelfth birthday, she tells her mother that she saw an ad for one of her mother’s books in the New York Times. Smith thinks about her husband’s recent move out of state and how much material he has given her for this book. He has also left them with other material, the burden and pain of his leaving.

Things I Know for Sure

Smith ruminates on the fact that her husband had a long-distance affair with a woman and now has a long-distance relationship with his children. When they visit him, he sends them home with a stack of postcards so they can write to him.

The Sparks

Smith has difficulty managing her anger at the postcards, but she wants to be able to forgive.

A Half Hour to Cry

Tired of burdening her family and friends with her heartache, Smith hires a therapist to untangle some of her feelings about her husband’s move. She tells her new therapist that she needs a half hour to cry. When her therapist asks how she is doing, Smith speaks at length about how her children are getting through it.