After the Unthinkable: Suicide Loss Survivor Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe bereavement by suicide, told by the people left behind. Writers have lost sons and daughters, husbands and wives, a twin sister, brothers, a half-brother, fathers, a stepfather, a best friend, a fiancée and an ex-partner. Others write from further around the circle: a teacher facing an empty desk in third period, a fire captain, a rugby coach, a mental health nurse who lost a patient, a manager, a pastor, a sponsor in recovery, a neighbour who never knocked, a grandmother and a daughter-in-law nobody asked. Places reach from Galway to Nairobi and Iowa to Manila. Writers describe the first time they said the word aloud, relatives who wanted to call it illness or a heart problem, telling children of nine and twelve at the kitchen table, raising a grandson, truck loan letters and bills, taking over a father's farm, cancelling a wedding venue, and support groups with folding chairs and cookies. Some describe fearing that it runs in their own family, sleep that has not come back, or learning the truth about a father twenty-five years later. Not every account moves towards ease: one woman lost both her father and her husband this way, and many say the question of why never fully leaves, though in time it stops running their days.

Who it's for

For anyone bereaved by suicide, recently or long ago, and for the friends, teachers, colleagues and faith leaders who want to know what to say and what to leave unsaid.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 273 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.