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Loading... The Crying Tree: A Novelby Naseem Rakha
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Well plotted, deals with tough issues without being melodramatic, blends the issue of the policy of the death penalty and the personal experience of those affected by it in an organic, non-preachy way. Original and memorable. (  ) DaffodilTurner | Dec 13, 2009 |  Could you forgive your son's killer? This is an excellent debut novel with a profound story line and I shall certainly be looking out for more books by this author. At the age of 15 Shep Stanley is murdered in his own home by known tear-away, Daniel Robbin. Shep's Dad attempts to save him but he dies in his Dad's arms. For Irene, his mother, life ends on this day; she moves through the funeral and the court case in a perpetual daze. Daniel is convicted and placed on death row but nothing changes for Irene. As the years pass and Irene only manages to get from day to day with the help of alcohol, there doesn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel. Until Shep's 25th birthday, when she decides to write to Daniel. When the impossible happens and she receives a reply, everything turns around for Irene: finally she finds a way to cope with her loss. The book persues the effect of Shep's death on the whole family and subsequently the effects of Irene's actions too. We meet Tab Mason, the prison officer who is responsible for ensuring that the 'procedure' is humanely carried out, and discover how difficult a job it is to take a man's life. And finally we hear from Daniel as he faces up to his actions. The characters are well rounded and the story flows well. It's hard to say why I didn't feel it quite made 5 stars. For me it just didn't quite have that unputdownable quality. I also think the cover gave away a little too much, I'd have preferred not to have known that Irene Stanley forgave Daniel although the consequences made for interesting reading. It reminded me of the Jodi Picoult book Change of Heart and you may enjoy this if you liked The Crying Tree. Both excellent reads and highly recommended. (  ) DubaiReader | Dec 8, 2009 | Nate and Irene Stanley, and their children Shep and Bliss, live happily in Illinois, in the house that has been in Irene's family for generations, until one day, out of the blue, Nate comes home and tells his family that he is taking a new job in Blaine, Oregon. None of the family want to move but Nate is insistent that it is for the best. The family move and make the necessary adjustments, but one day Irene is called home from work to find her son Shep has been shot and killed by Daniel Robbin, a loner with a background of being in and out of foster homes. The book then focuses mostly on Irene's despair over the years that follow, as she tries to come to terms with the loss of her son. Naseem Rakha manages this very well and you really do get a sense of how Irene must have been feeling. One day she reaches a point where she either cannot go on any longer, or she must forgive Daniel for his crime. There follows a period of nine years, whilst Daniel is on death row, where he and Irene write to each other, until Daniel's execution is finally arranged and then Irene's secret is revealed. However, it turns out that Nate has his own secrets about what happened when his son died. This is an excellent read, and one which I would recommend. It's a fairly gentle sort of story, given the subject matter, as it deals with a family's grief rather than anger. It brought tears to my eyes in the last few chapters as the secrets surrounding Shep's death are revealed and Daniel's execution grows ever closer. This is a book that proves the power of forgiveness and shows that things are never as clear-cut as they seem. ( ) nicx27 | Oct 10, 2009 | The Crying Tree is a story about what happens to the Stanley family after their fifteen year old son is tragically murdered in a home invasion. The family harbors many secrets from each other and when the secrets are revealed it is emotional and shocking. The book also tells the story from three sides- the family, the murderer, and the executioner. I could not put this book down. The story takes place in different time periods and two different locations, Oregon and Illinois, but the transition is easy to follow. That is something I usually have a hard time with in books but the author has made the transition smooth and easy. Some of the subject matter is painful and difficult but very important to the powerful story of grief and forgiveness. This book would be great for discussions and book clubs. I like Ms. Rakha's writing style and will be watching out for her next book. (  ) bookaholicmom | Sep 23, 2009 | The beautifully written characters of The Crying Tree are stunningly real. It’s a story of devastating loss that also tells of unbelievable forgiveness on the part of the mother. One of the interesting things about The Crying Tree is the way Rakha reveals how the family came to be as they are in the days before the execution of the man who fired the shot that killed 15 year old Shep. In the first two parts, time jumps around: there’s the time surrounding Shep’s death, the present when the execution has finally been scheduled after 19 long years, and some important periods in between. Small pieces are revealed along the way until the final bombshell comes two weeks before the execution. Though there were some hints, the last secret comes as a major shock. It is an excellent twist that again rips apart the family. ( ) nicole | Sep 4, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
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Irene and Nate Stanley are living a quiet and contented life with their two children, Bliss and Shep, on their family farm in southern Illinois when Nate suddenly announces he’s been offered a job as a deputy sheriff in Oregon. Irene fights her husband. She does not want to uproot her family and has deep misgivings about the move. Nevertheless, the family leaves, and they are just settling into their life in Oregon’s high desert when the unthinkable happens. Fifteen-year-old Shep is shot and killed during an apparent robbery in their home. The murderer, a young mechanic with a history of assault, robbery, and drug-related offenses, is caught and sentenced to death.
Shep’s murder sends the Stanley family into a tailspin, with each member attempting to cope with the tragedy in his or her own way. Irene’s approach is to live, week after week, waiting for Daniel Robbin’s execution and the justice she feels she and her family deserve. Those weeks turn into months and then years. Ultimately, faced with a growing sense that Robbin’s death will not stop her pain, Irene takes the extraordinary and clandestine step of reaching out to her son’s killer. The two forge an unlikely connection that remains a secret from her family and friends.
Years later, Irene receives the notice that she had craved for so long—Daniel Robbin has stopped his appeals and will be executed within a month. This announcement shakes the very core of the Stanley family. Irene, it turns out, isn’t the only one with a shocking secret to hide. As the execution date nears, the Stanleys must face difficult truths and find a way to come to terms with the past.
Dramatic, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting, The Crying Tree is an unforgettable story of love and redemption, the unbreakable bonds of family, and the transformative power of forgiveness.
(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:39:23 -0400)
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