The World Looks Different Now

The World Looks Different Now takes readers behind the statistics and into the private world of a family whose lives are forever changed following the suicide of the family’s older son less than three months before he was due to deploy to Afghanistan.

A journalist as well as a grieving mother, author Margaret Thomson instinctively turns to writing during the weeks, months, and even years following her son’s death in an effort to make sense out of a seemingly senseless act that she never dreamed could happen. In The World Looks Different Now, she chronicles the grueling journey she and her husband, along with their surviving son, are forced to embark upon as they move toward eventual—if only partial—healing. Poignant and insightful, this memoir will help those who’s suffered a major loss to better understand the need to grieve at one’s own pace, as well as in one’s own individual way.

Author: Margaret Thomson

Publication Date: July 14, 2020

Categories: Memoir, Spring 2020

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About the Author

Description

2021 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards Gold Winner in Best New Voice: Nonfiction
2021 International Book Awards Winner in Health: Death & Dying
2021 International Book Awards Finalist in Best New Non-Fiction
2021 CIBA Military & Front Lines Book Awards Winner
2020 Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Awards Finalist

“An unflinchingly honest portrait of grief and survival that many fellow travelers will find comforting.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A beautifully written and harrowing tale of a mother coming to terms with her son’s devastating suicide. The World Looks Different Now offers comfort and companionship to other parents grieving this unbearable loss.”
—Sarah Neustadter, PhD, author of Love You Like the Sky

“Margaret Thomson has achieved the near-impossible by looking grief right in the eye and finding a story that illuminates us on the toughest topic there is. With grace, a light touch, and a great deal of truth, she moves us past the plot of her tale of loss and into a place of knowing.”
—Marion Roach Smith, author of The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life

“Margaret Thomson’s raw and intimate and eventually heartwarming story shows she has learned to survive. . . . I recommend The World Looks Different Now to other suicide survivors and parents who have lost their children by any means.”
—Madeline Sharples, author of Leaving the Hall Light On

“This is a powerful book—Thomson’s emotions crackle off the page. Survivors of suicide loss will find communion in her grief, and solace in her healing.”
—Kelley Clink, author of A Different Kind of Same

“In this timeless memoir of tragic loss and exploration, author Margaret Thomson pulls back the curtain on life-altering experiences with courage and determination so that what wasn’t seen . . . can be seen. Absolutely find a way to weave this riveting story into your life and heart.”
—D.A. (Daisy) Hickman, author of The Silence of Morning: A Memoir of Time Undone

About the Author

Margaret Thomson is a journalist and television producer who’s reported on a variety of subjects, from Middle East politics to the British royal family. As a radio correspondent for ABC News, she was the first American broadcast journalist to report the end of the Falklands War in May 1982; several years later she became the first radio correspondent to report on the AIDS epidemic in Africa.Upon returning to the United States in 1992, she taught journalism and television production at the University of Memphis. In 1993, she worked as a production associate on the HBO documentary The Trial of James Earl Ray. Thomson continues to write for print and online publications. In 2016, she and her husband Tim relocated from Memphis to Franklin, Tennessee. Their son Matt, a recent graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, visits frequently from his job in the shipping industry.