- Street:
- Village Books
- Additional:
- 1200 Eleventh Street
- City:
- Bellingham ,
- Province:
- Washington
- Postal Code:
- 98225
- Country:
- United States
Irene and Nate Stanley and their two children, Bliss and Shep, have just relocated to a tiny Oregon town. As the family adjusts to their new life the unspeakable happens: 15-year-old Shep is brutally murdered in the family’s home. As the family unravels, Shep’s killer, Daniel Robbins, spends his entire adult life on death row waiting to die. When Irene hits rock bottom, she makes a desperate attempt to heal by pouring her rage and utter despair into a letter to her son’s killer. What she doesn’t expect is that Robbins will write back. The two begin a secret correspondence that lasts years and becomes the sustaining force in Irene’s life. But as the day of Robbin’s execution nears, all of the shocking secrets that the Stanley family has been living with for years emerge, setting in motion a course of events that tests Irene’s spirit, faith, and resolve, all while Robbins’ life hangs in the balance.
Dramatic, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting, this is a novel that exposes the fault lines and cracks that appear when unthinkable tragedy turns one family upside down. But above all it is an original and unforgettable story of forgiveness, redemption, the unbreakable bonds of family, and the transformative power of love.
Naseem Rakha is an award-winning broadcast journalist whose stories have appeared on NPR. She lives in Oregon’s Willamette Valley with her husband and son. This is her first novel.
“For anyone who has ever wondered how forgiveness is possible, even when the pain is overwhelming, wonder no more. The Crying Tree takes you on a journey you won’t soon forget.”
—Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking
“This complex, layered story of a family’s journey toward justice and forgiveness comes together through spellbinding storytelling.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Gifted storyteller Rakha has crafted a beautiful and passionate novel that never becomes maudlin or unbelievable. All of the characters are genuinely human, and the author even manages to save a few surprising plot details to the end. Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal
2012 Chuckanut Writers Conference
