24 Comments

CONGRATS!!!!!! I LOVED the audiobook--it was as if you were reading to me in my car as I drove to see my now grad-student kid in Canada. I'll be sharing and leaving 5-star reviews for you once I can safely exit National Poetry Month which has pulled me in several directions-- ha!

More than just a book on marriage, your book reminds us of the invisible gender roles that hold us back as women, artists, and writers. I nodded along from Washington State to Canada, saying, "I hear you, Sister, I hear you."

Such important and needed writing. I kept thinking of Hawthorne's horrible quote "America is now wholly given over to a damned mob of scribbling women..." and the diminishment of women's passions as "hobbies." The lawyer with her air quotes on "working" when talking about your writing is infuriating to me. Anyway, a long way to say THANK YOU, Maggie. Thank you.

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I love everything about this book! I love the structure as well. I am taking notes about it and wishing I would have thought to write a book this way. It is brilliant!

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Apr 20, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith

So very happy for you, Maggie. I will be calling my favourite independent bookstore in Victoria BC this morning. I hope they have your book, if not they will be getting it after I talk to them. I have been a resolute and thrilled follower of James Crews and Danusha Lameris's webinars and saw you there for the first time, loving your poetry.

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Congratulations! I have been reading the book before bed every night, and having to force myself to stop so that I can still manage my daily life without too much coffee or resentment. It's mostly working and I'm definitely underslept and I regret nothing.

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Amazing! Hugs congratulations 👏🏻

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Apr 20, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith

👏👏👏

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Apr 20, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith

Congratulations! So enjoyed hearing you in conversation with Jeannine Ouellette in Minneapolis. And so very happy for your success.

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founding

After the reading and signing in Nashville, a photographer friend and mentor of mine from the UK posted how anxious he was for the book to arrive there. I purchased a signed copy and mailed it and, as I write this, it is somewhere over the Atlantic, words in flight finding a soft place to land. He is a contemplative photographer who allows images to call to him, images whose beauty is revealed to those who answer the call. He introduced me to the phrase and concept of "wabi-sabi" - taking time to recognize beauty in the imperfect and impermanent and, in actuality, to embrace the beauty of the imperfections and because of its impermanence. It makes my heart happy to share your words and thoughts. I look forward to following the many weeks and years in the life of this book. Well done, friend.

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Apr 20, 2023Liked by Maggie Smith

Congratulations! Am on my second read, and love it even more this time through. Looking forward to seeing you in Cleveland.

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I’m so incredibly happy for you and for this book. Absolutely deserved. Proud of you!

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Thank you for this book. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It is exquisite.

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I pre-ordered your incredible memoir the moment you mentioned it on IG, as I’ve been a huge fan of yours for many years. Again, you have written a beautiful work with so much heart, pathos and vulnerability there is no way it couldn’t resonate so deeply and fully - it was bound to be a best-seller and I’m so happy for you that you accomplished this!! I’m so grateful that you took the steps you needed to reclaim your voice, fully embrace and enjoy the life you were building, one word at a time, and doing so without apology nor misgivings. You are talented, have devoted yourself to your craft and have taken the leaps of faith necessary to create this incredible life (including all of accolades and success!) you so deeply deserve. Kudos to you!!

I must confess, even tho I got the hard bound copy, I wanted to hear you read it, so I literally just finished listening to your Audible version - thoroughly enjoyed it. I found it interesting, however, that you had concerns over whether or not your story would resonate with others - perhaps you don’t have many divorced friends. It most def resonated with me on so many levels!! Hiding my own light under a bushel, in deference to my husband’s writing aspirations; having had tiny red flags very early on in our relationship that I chose to ignore; having issues regarding division of labor and domestic responsibilities when one spouse works much longer hours outside the home (that being me, as a pharmacist and business owner still expected to do the heavy lifting of domestic duties as well); and, in my case, the big tip-off to me that affirmed my intuitive hunches that there was someone else: he announced to my parents, not me, that he’d quit smoking - something I’d been asking him to do for many years. My actual aha moment came 2 months later when sitting down to write a monthly newsletter for bereaved parents, I stumbled across an encrypted file of his emails with his lover. I’m no hacker, not even highly proficient on the computer, so the only way I can explain being able to break the code, was that I had some celestial assistance from our dearly departed son - he figured I deserved to know what was happening in my own home. I kicked him to the curb that day, and proceeded to recreate myself and my life, including pursuing my lifelong writing aspirations, as well as choosing to love and prioritize myself over and over - romantic love is not the only love that truly sustains us. It’s a bonus, in my humble opinion.

So, yes, your experience and how you’re navigating your solo-for-now life most definitely resonates, and your status on the best seller list only affirms that notion! I just had to thank you!

Anxiously awaiting your next book!! 👏🏻📚💜

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Just finished reading your book and it was a lantern, helping me illuminate unfathomable events in my life. Thanks for a tender and book shining with hope, love and an inner world so beautifully expressed.

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