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The Crying Tree

by Naseem Rakha (Goodreads Author)

3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 · rating details · 1,809 ratings · 447 reviews

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...more

Hardcover, 353 pages

Published July 7th 2009 by Broadway Books/Random House (first published January 1st 2009)

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Jan 13, 2012 Marie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Any book that I stay up reading until 2 a.m. deserves five stars. I hadn't done that since Harry Potter 7 came out...and I had jet lag then because we were in Hawaii.

I heard Rakha being interviewed on NPR and knew I had to read her book. A broadcast journalist for "All Things Considered" and an Oregonian, she covered the first execution in Oregon for 30 years, and the seed of this book was planted.

I'm fascinated by the themes of deep forgiveness and grace, perhaps because I wonder whether I woul...more Any book that I stay up reading until 2 a.m. deserves five stars. I hadn't done that since Harry Potter 7 came out...and I had jet lag then because we were in Hawaii.

I heard Rakha being interviewed on NPR and knew I had to read her book. A broadcast journalist for "All Things Considered" and an Oregonian, she covered the first execution in Oregon for 30 years, and the seed of this book was planted.

I'm fascinated by the themes of deep forgiveness and grace, perhaps because I wonder whether I would have the capacity to do such a thing myself if one of my loved ones were brutally hurt or worse yet, murdered.

Irene Stanley is an old-fashioned wife in rural Indiana when her sheriff's deputy husband comes home one day and announces that they are moving to eastern Oregon. No discussion, no argument, she is advised by her pastor to accept her husband's decision, even though she feels in her soul that is a very bad move.

A year after the family has settled into Blaine, Oregon, her son, Shep, is found brutally murdered. Each family member--mother, father, and sister--react to his death in different ways. Irene becomes an alcoholic and severely depressed. Bliss, only 12 when her brother was killed, grows up feeling completely neglected by her parents.

The killer is prosecuted and put on death row. Years after Shep's death, Irene finally begins to come out of her cocoon and feels compelled to write to Daniel, her son's killer. And gradually, she finds a way to forgive him. Rakha's characters find that just like hate, forgiveness fills you up. And forgiveness is like "pain and grace all tied up in one."

As Irene's life and world view changes, the secrets begin to leak out.
The book's format is to alternate chapters between the 1980s (when the murder occurred) and 2004, and to alternate perspectives among the family members (mostly Irene), Daniel (on death row), and a deeply damaged but compassionate-at-heart Oregon prison superintendent, Tab Mason. (Usually these shifting times and character viewpoints bother me, but it didn't in this book.) Other reviewers have criticized the book for including one-dimensional characters, but we all know for a fact that there are people like Irene's sister, pastor, or husband out in the world among us. People can have very simple, even hateful views of anything that conflicts with their way of thinking and being.

A few people commented that they would have liked the book to be longer, so they could have learned more about Irene's relationship with her son, or what was going on in Nate's mind. But I believe that Rakha kept that deliberately fuzzy for the purposes of the story.

I saw a few of the plot elements coming, but Rakha might have wanted this. It didn't matter anyway. I loved this story of pain and grace, and I especially enjoyed reading this fictional story of forgiveness after reading the memoir Picking Cotton earlier this year...a story of a woman who was raped and forgave her rapist, only to discover that he wasn't really her rapist after all and she had accused the wrong man. Not only did she forgive him, but he forgave her and they actually became friends. Do you have such a capacity to forgive in you?(less)

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Dec 26, 2009 Robin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-group-worthy, best-of-2009

Even though I have alredy sent this, I am updating for my Best of 2009 list:

Unbeknownst to her family, Irene starts corresponding with her son’s murderer waiting on death row and is devastated when notified of an execution date even though the rest of the family is ecstatic. This is an amazing first novel by a Silverton, Oregon author and perfect for book groups.

More from previous review:
After a move from Illinois to central Oregon, Irene and Nate’s teen son, Shep, is killed by what appears to b...more

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May 20, 2013 Ali rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club

A large group, with many strangers, come to talk with the author. Who had brought her dad along, and a couple of cousins. She's the daughter of a Muslim from India on one side, and a Catholic on the other, and grew up as a Unitarian in a fundamentalist Protestant area of Southern Illinois.

We went around the circle, and proceeded to tell Naseem what her book was about. Which was really more about forgiveness, and the healing that it can bring, than about the death penalty.

She interviewed Kitzhab...more A large group, with many strangers, come to talk with the author. Who had brought her dad along, and a couple of cousins. She's the daughter of a Muslim from India on one side, and a Catholic on the other, and grew up as a Unitarian in a fundamentalist Protestant area of Southern Illinois.

We went around the circle, and proceeded to tell Naseem what her book was about. Which was really more about forgiveness, and the healing that it can bring, than about the death penalty.

She interviewed Kitzhaber around the time of our last two executions, back in the last century. He said that he was torn between two oaths, the Hippocratic oath that says to do no harm, and his oath of office that says to uphold the constitution of the state. And our death penalty is enshrined within the constitution. Had it been a mere statute he would have commuted the sentences. But this time around, of course, he changed his mind.

She doesn't know whether Kitzhaber has read this book. But Gary Haugen has, and asked to speak with her. She visited him on death row and interviewed him for 2 1/2 hours. And in the end decided that he does not have the right to ask to die. That he owes it to the families of his victims to stay alive and answer any questions they might have about the murders.

And that's why she's opposed to the death penalty. Not for the moral reasons that killing is wrong no matter who does it, or for the pragmatic ones about the financial cost of appeals and executions, or for the judicial ones about the chances of executing an innocent person. She opposes it because of the emotional cost for the survivors. Every step along the way reopens the wound, and the final step doesn't bring closure, but only an end of any possibility of learning about their loved ones last hours. Only a sentence of life without parole would give the finality that might actually bring healing.

Ruth Ann (visiting from the other group) told about her yoga teacher, who had been a nurse during WWII and had been scooped up and sent to Auschwitz, but had been kept alive for her useful skills. And the Nazis would come to her at the end of their shifts and ask for yoga instruction, to alleviate the stress of running the gas chambers.
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Feb 14, 2012 Literary Mama added it

NR: One of the things The Crying Tree explores is the multiple ways families fail one another, and the multiple layers of guilt that exist when tragedy strikes a family. When Shep Stanley is murdered, the blame seems to fall on two people, the murderer, Douglas Robbin, and Shep's father, Nate Stanley, who forced his family to leave the comfort of their Illinois home and move to Oregon where Shep is killed.

As the story unfolds we see that guilt is much more complicated and widespread and Irene, t...more

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Jan 27, 2012 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Attention all book clubs! The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha is a must read for your group. It is almost impossible to turn the last page of this novel and not want to immediately want to talk to discuss it with someone. The Stanley’s, Nate and Irene and their two children, Bliss and Shep seem to be living an idyllic life on a farm in Illinois, until the fateful day that Nate arrives at home with the news of a great job and a move to Oregon. While Irene and the children are not happy about the move...more

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Nov 27, 2011 Maysze rated it 3 of 5 stars

The story is good. Good writing but not wowed writing. The ending is well crafted and making you to feel complete. However, I do have difficulty to develop the characters as I was reading the book. It may be due to the complexity of the story and the complicated emotions that each characters going throughout the story. However, if you ask me whether i enjoyed the book, I answer, not really. I think (may be a minor point for some reader) that I'm disappointed to see how the author actually has li...more

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Nov 18, 2011 Thomas Paul rated it 2 of 5 stars

Nate Stanley is offered a job as a deputy sheriff in Oregon and accepts it against his wife, Irene’s, opinion. He drags his family 2,000 miles to their new home and then soon after their arrival, the Stanley’s son, Shep, is murdered. The next part of the book is about anger and forgiveness as we watch the young man found guilty of this crime prepare for his execution. This is by far the best part of the book as we watch each member of the Stanley family (but mostly Irene) learn to live with the...more

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Apr 25, 2011 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: recent-reads

i tried to win this book on a giveway here, but didn't win. i sought it out and i am glad i did.

the story circles around the stanley family: nate, irene, shep and bliss. nate is the patriarch and a police officer in a small souther illinois town. the town where he and irene grew up and created a family together. one day he comes home and tells irene he's found a new job in oregon and they are moving there within the next few weeks. against her better judgment, irene accepts this twist of fate an...more

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Feb 04, 2011 Vera Marie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes experienced non-fiction writers stumble when they turn to fiction. Naseem Rakha covered executions as a journalist. That experience moved her to write a book about the impact of murder and punishment. In The Crying Tree she tells her story eloquently with graceful introduction to complex subjects, believable characters we care about, and realistic American settings.

When it was time for me to read this book, a horrendous tragedy had happened in Tucson--the mass murder of six people, inc...more Sometimes experienced non-fiction writers stumble when they turn to fiction. Naseem Rakha covered executions as a journalist. That experience moved her to write a book about the impact of murder and punishment. In The Crying Tree she tells her story eloquently with graceful introduction to complex subjects, believable characters we care about, and realistic American settings.

When it was time for me to read this book, a horrendous tragedy had happened in Tucson--the mass murder of six people, including a nine-year-old-child. Then I opened The Crying Tree, which begins with the murder of a young boy (15, not 9). I was not sure I could continue. I was reeling because I knew the Member of Congress who was wounded in Tucson, and the scene of the crime was a shopping center I frequent.

But before long, I was hooked. The story was particularly timely. The father works in law enforcement in Illinois, and announces to his wife one day that they are leaving her family home to move across the country to Oregon. In the new location, their son is killed in an apparent random robbery.

The story swings between the prison in Oregon and Illinois, over the 19-year period that it takes to carry out the death sentence on the confessed killer. In the Oregon prison, we see how waiting for the execution affects the killer, but also the effect it has on the warden of the prison. In Illinois, we read about the mother's spiral into depression and alcoholism after the family moves back home to Illinois. I cared about all of them, because Rakha made me care as she unravels family secrets and shows the road from wanting revenge to forgiveness.

It would be so easy to slip into polemic with a book like this, but the author resists the temptation. Her use of language is exquisite, and I loved the author's note where she thanks Aaron Copeland "for creating music that inspired many scenes in this book." If Copeland can help create wonderful scene settings like in this book, then all authors had best run out and buy CDs of Copeland.

If you are not familiar with southern Illinois before reading this book, you will see much that is new. If you assume that Oregon is all beautiful coast line and the city of Portland, you'll learn about a distressed small town. That qualifies this for the traveler's library--particularly for one not attuned to rural and small town America.

Follow this link if you would like to see some interesting video interviews with the author.

Original review at A Traveler's Library.com
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Jan 02, 2011 Shana rated it 1 of 5 stars

The Crying Tree is about what happens to a close knit family when their son Shep Stanley is shot and killed in their home during a botched burglary attempt. After his death, Irene (his mother), Nate (his father) and younger sister Bliss are forced to deal not only with Shep's death, but their feelings of hatred towards the person who supposedly shot him. This book is written mainly from Irene's viewpoint. Eventually, after a self-destructive phase, Irene comes to realize that the murderer is not...more

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Sep 01, 2010 Leonard rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Although the writing in this novel is not exceptional, the story being told most certainly is, and that makes this one at least tied with the most worthwhile fiction I've read this year. A teenager is murdered and the convicted murderer sits on death row for years awaiting execution. During this time the surviving family members can't wait to see the felon get what he deserves. But the victim's mother starts to have a change of heart after realizing that she's dug herself into a bottomless pit o...more

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May 25, 2010 Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

This deeply moving, well plotted book has many themes: forgiveness, redemption, belief, justice and the role of organized religion are among some of them. The book centers around Irene Stanley, wife to Nate - a policeman, mother to Bliss - a daughter, and Shep - her murdered son. Shep's murderer, Daniel, is captured and sentenced to death while Irene keeps living as a zombie - walking in a daze and managing to get through the day with alcohol. On Shep's would be 25th birthday she decides to writ...more

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Mar 11, 2010 Nicole rated it 1 of 5 stars

A novel about a mother's journey from hatred to forgiveness of her son's murderer is a good idea. However, if that novel is weighed down by stereotypes and one-note characters, it becomes really hard to get through. For example, Rakha paints all her conservative characters as uneducated bigots. In case the reader cannot figure that out on her own, the author makes sure any character that likes President Bush or is for the war uses broken English and calls his or her parents "ma" and "pa". On the...more

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Mar 02, 2010 Lynne Perednia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Irene doesn't want to move when her husband, Nate, gets a new law enforcement job out West. Moving from farm country, Illinois, where both their families had lived for generations, to go to the high desert country of Oregon, well, the calendar may say 1983 but it might as well be 1883 to Irene.

Still, they and their two children pack up their things and hit the road. Life in Blaine is just what Irene expected -- hard on them. Hardest hit of all is her beloved teenage son Shep, a dreamy young man...more

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Sep 08, 2009 Louise rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Fifteen-year-old Shep Stanley is shot and killed in what appears to be a home robbery. During the time of the shooting, it was believed that Irene and Nate, Shep's parents, and Bliss, Shep's sister were not home. Trying to find their way through the gut-wrenching grief leads each member of the family down a different path, coping with grief in their own ways.

Irene seems to have the most difficult time, almost becoming an alcoholic and a zombie, and not caring what goes on around her or what is...more Fifteen-year-old Shep Stanley is shot and killed in what appears to be a home robbery. During the time of the shooting, it was believed that Irene and Nate, Shep's parents, and Bliss, Shep's sister were not home. Trying to find their way through the gut-wrenching grief leads each member of the family down a different path, coping with grief in their own ways.

Irene seems to have the most difficult time, almost becoming an alcoholic and a zombie, and not caring what goes on around her or what is going on with the other members of her family. All she wants is for her son's killer to be executed.

Nate returns to his job as Deputy Sheriff in a small town in Oregon and pressures his wife and daughter to "move on". His basic message being that no amount of grief can bring Shep back to them, so it would be better for them all if they could put this situation behind them, move on, and continue their lives as best they can.

Bliss, a teenager herself at the time, and her best friend Jeff, end up being the 'caretakers' of her family. Her Mom doesn't cook, doesn't clean up dishes, can't do the laundry, leaves the house in a run down condition, and Nate, too involved in his job and his own grief, doesn't seem to care or notice.

As the years click by, some startling revelations come out that will shock the family to their core. Everyone has secrets, everyone does what they can to protect their secret, but like all secrets, at some point it all comes out. What an unimaginable shock these secrets are!

You will find this to be a dramatic and riveting story of pain, grief and the forgiveness that can come from such an abhorrent situation.

From just jacket:

"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.

And then 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."
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Aug 24, 2009 Deirdre rated it 4 of 5 stars

In The Crying Tree Naseem Rakha tells the story of a family destroyed by tragedy and fueled by emotion and vengeance, a mother, father and daughter trying desperately to find a way to live beyond their loss, and failing miserably. Individual grief makes them strangers to one another, allowing secrets to lie dormant for years and forcing each to live alone within the family unit.

When the killer's execution is finally scheduled, Irene is faced with emotions she never expected - she hated this man...more

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Aug 10, 2009 Lydia Presley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

"You ever done that? Forgiven someone even thought they don't deserve it?"

"No," Mason said. "No, I've never done that."

"Well, I got to say, it fills you. Whether you want it to or not, that kind of thing, it just fills you. It's like pain and grace all tied up in one."

That's what this book was to me, pain and grace all tied up in one. Putting aside all of the political aspects it touched on (the war in Iraq, homosexuality, the death penalty) it pretty much transcended above these things and spok...more

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Jul 30, 2009 Fredsky rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm in fact giving this book a 3.5. As much as anything, this book is about change--change as time passes, changing of how we see, what we see and what we think we see, changes in our feelings as our vision adjusts, and so on. This book tells the story of Shep, shot to death at 15, his family, who cannot recover from this, and his convicted murderer who is about to be electrocuted after 19 years in prison, mostly on death row. Shep's mother, Irene, is the most emotionally available character in...more

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Jul 09, 2009 Jen C (ReadinginWBL) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Title: The Crying Tree
Author: Naseem Rakha
Pages: 353 pages
Publisher: Broadway; First Edition edition (July 7, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0767931408

Book Description from Book: 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. Never...more Title: The Crying Tree
Author: Naseem Rakha
Pages: 353 pages
Publisher: Broadway; First Edition edition (July 7, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0767931408

Book Description from Book: 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. How do you continue the same life without your child? How do you continue on?

My Review: I was initially intrigued when receiving this book for review by the cover. I am always drawn to interesting cover art. After reading the back cover I didn’t see how the boy playing the trumpet and the title The Crying Tree came together, but very appropriate after reading the book.

I read this book on my vacation and I must say it was a great read! The themes of the story for me were loss, grief and forgiveness. One of the most powerful lines in the books is about pain and grace. How do you have pain and grace at the same time? I guess through forgiveness comes grace. There is so much pain in this story, the pain of a mother, a father, sister and lover. There is a powerful statement made about pain and hatred eating you alive and now you get around that hatred and forgive. I am not sure I could have forgiven as Irene Stanley had, but she was a remarkably strong character. I appreciated her strength and journey.

The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha is a remarkable and heart wrenching story that will stay with me for a while. The characters are very well developed and you have a good feel for their feelings and values. The characters are very human and have made mistakes. I highly recommend this book. It will draw you in within the first few pages and like me, you will be staying up a bit too late wanting the story to continue!

My Rating: 5 – Highly Recommended

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Sep 20, 2011 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Okay, so I really liked this story... my only problem is that there is so much time spent on Irene's character that, Nate, Bliss, Shep, Jeff, and even Daniel sort of just get 'skimmed' over. I would have enjoyed more character depth to them as well as to their relationships with each other and how losing Shep affected each of them personally and as a group. I did not see the whole Daniel/ Shep thing coming until right about the time Irene did. It would have been nice to have some depth to the st...more

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Nov 19, 2010 Mary Lou rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, lo-bookgroup

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Rakha's first novel The Crying Tree ambitiously takes on the issues of death, grief, suicide, forgiveness, capitol punishment, homosexuality, war, and religion. The key human characters are a family of four, but outsiders also play important roles, especially a prison warden, two lovers, a sister, a minister, and a motel owner/mother of a soldier in Iraq (p266). Nature plays a major role as well, anthropomorphically and spiritually, as Rakha describes towns and characteristics of Oregon, Illinoi...more Rakha's first novel The Crying Tree ambitiously takes on the issues of death, grief, suicide, forgiveness, capitol punishment, homosexuality, war, and religion. The key human characters are a family of four, but outsiders also play important roles, especially a prison warden, two lovers, a sister, a minister, and a motel owner/mother of a soldier in Iraq (p266). Nature plays a major role as well, anthropomorphically and spiritually, as Rakha describes towns and characteristics of Oregon, Illinois, Wyoming and places on the road in between. Her point seems to be that nature gives us reason to live, to cope with and understand what happens in life.

The plot is complicated and, towards the end, too conveniently pat, especially regarding Mason and Bliss, but overall it coheres and supports Rakha's realistic portrayal of how families support and destroy each other, how individuals seek mates who love and accept them, and how each of us must come to terms with life on our own. Suspense, foreshadowing, and omniscient point of view draw the reader into the story.

Many statements in the book are either poetic, poignant, proven or all three: "She knew what it was like to live where people depended on what either lay deep in the ground or sprouted up out of it, and the quality of the smile in the market always depended on the price farmers got at the co-op" (19). "He had hoped when he bought the house that its view and the vastness of the land that surrounded them would somehow make up for tearing his family from all they had had--that being without the coddling care of relatives would make them all stronger and clearer about who and what they were. But it hadn't worked out that way" (44). "What I want has nothing to do with justice. ... What I want is revenge" (70). "...you're a drunk and Dad's out of touch and neither one of you knows how to take care of yourself, let alone each other" (103).

In Chapter 19 (p114-123, Rakha describes Irene's suicide attempt, beginning with her realization that it would have been Shep's 25th birthday if he was still alive, going to her and Nate's shared understanding that Irene is "not doing all right," to her realization after taking what she hopes is a lethal dose of Valium that "There are long paths to walk ...there is family, and children, and hurts and injustices. There are hallways that last forever. And then there is a tree, and a bird, and a memory of beauty" (123).

The title relates to a tree besides Shep's grave, "a scraggly-looking thing, with a thick trunk and wizened branches: that hold "fanlike tassels" of "yellow, sap-filled pearls" that "look like tears." Irene's reaction when Bliss brings the pearls to her and makes the comment, "There are certain things you should never have to see in life. A crying tree standing beside your son's grave was one" (37).

Finally, in Chapter 43 where Irene meets the mother of a soldier in Iraq, the mother, Doris, says, "Us moms, we have no say. They grow up and they do what they're gonna do and we can do nothing but keep loving and hoping and praying that somehow things work the way we've dreamed since the day we learned we were carrying 'em. There's no choice in it, 'cause we have no power in it. You understand what I'm saying? Irene did. No choice, no power. She understood completely" (268).

Summary: After 19 years of waiting for resolution, a date of execution is set for Daniel Joseph Robbin. He is sentenced to death for killing 15 year-old Steven Joseph Stanley (Shep), and only Shep's father, Deputy Sheriff Nathaniel Patrick Stanley knows that Robbin fired his gun at dad to keep him from beating his son to death for being gay.

Stanley is a Vietnam vet with PTSD; he and Irene are small town kids reared in a church with a very strict focus on right, wrong, and sin, and no tolerance for homosexuality. Stanley moves his family from Carlton, Illinois to Blaine, Oregon in an attempt to set his son straight.

Overly lenient, surprisingly unaware of what's really going on in her kids' lives, and much closer to her son whom she thinks needs her, as opposed to her daughter who's much more self-sufficient, Irene Lucinda Crain Stanley goes from grief-induced alcoholism and indolence to rejuvenation of her life and marriage after attempting suicide, deciding not only to live but to forgive Robbin, and then corresponding with him for nine years.

Sister Barbara Lee Stanley (Bliss) becomes a prosecuting attorney after briefly considering marriage to her childhood friend and high school lover Jeff Creal who after deep grief at being thrown over for college becomes a mail carrier, marries and has a family. Bliss remains single until her mid thirties when she falls in love with Tab Mason, Superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary where Robbin is incarcerated.

Mason chooses his career after being abused and nearly killed by his psychotic brother Tulane who Tab was often urged to forgive by his mother who does commit suicide. Mason marries once and has a daughter, but his wife Shauna leaves him after he hits a neighbor and then her despite his promise that he'll change (134).
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May 29, 2009 Cathyb rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

Imagine yourself in the early 1970's. A time when bell bottoms, mini skirts and platform shoes ruled the fashion world. The birth of Aerosmith, Kiss and the Ramones took center stage in the music world. A time of political awakening. Now imagine yourself knowing nothing about this and living in an isolated town in Oregon. You are living what appears to be the American dream – married, two kids (one boy, one girl), etc.... But, then tragedy strikes and what you love most in the world is taken fro...more

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Aug 24, 2011 Maggie Donaldson rated it 3 of 5 stars

On the face of it, this is a good read - a well-crafted story with a few twists and turns that will keep you hooked. We need to invent a new genre for the books that chart a parent's (usually a mother's) devastation at losing a child, usually in violent circumstances. There is a rash of them, and they make for painful reading. This one is no exception, and the microscopic examination of the effect on the mother, her husband and her daughter, is very well handled. Rakha slowly reveals her charact...more

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May 30, 2009 Kellyreaderofbooks rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Crying Tree is about what happens to a family when their son dies in a horrible accident. Teenager Shep Stanley is shot and killed in his own home during a botched burglary attempt. After his death, his parents and younger sister Bliss are forced to deal not only with Shep's death, but their feelings of hatred towards the person who shot him. Eventually, they come to realize that the murderer is not what he seems, and has some secrets of his own that will impact the family forever.

I thought...more

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Aug 12, 2010 Ellen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Naseem Rakha drew me into this story immediately. The book opens in the office of Tab Mason, the superintendent of the penitentiary where Shep’s killer, after 19 years in prison, had stopped his appeals and was scheduled to die by lethal injection in less than a month. The omniscient point of view takes us primarily into the heads of Mason and Shep’s mother Irene, with occasional plunges into Shep’s father and other characters. The setting moves back and forth too, between their Illinois farm an...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Sally McRogerson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this in less than 48 hours, and when I wasn't actually reading it I was thinking it. There are a number of reviews already that give the bones of the storyline so I won't go there. It had everything for me. Abolition of the Death Penalty, which is very dear to my heart, forgiveness, addiction and recovery but it was the characters that I was fascinated by. They seemed well-rounded, with none that felt superfluous to the plot. The family dynamics, the secrets that each member carried with...more

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Feb 01, 2011 Yas rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-books, american-or-canadian, crime-fiction, 2011-favourites, absolute-favourite, reviewed

WOW!

What an absolutely fantastic book. I've found another one to add to my overall favourites/favourites of this year! Brilliant! I don't think any review of mine can do the book justice in all honesty but going to try my best!

Initial impressions
The crying tree is a page turner from page one, it was one of those books where I knew I was going to be hooked into it straight away. The pace never once relinquished its hold either, it moved perfectly, not too quickly, not too slowly...I knew early...more WOW!

What an absolutely fantastic book. I've found another one to add to my overall favourites/favourites of this year! Brilliant! I don't think any review of mine can do the book justice in all honesty but going to try my best!

Initial impressions
The crying tree is a page turner from page one, it was one of those books where I knew I was going to be hooked into it straight away. The pace never once relinquished its hold either, it moved perfectly, not too quickly, not too slowly...I knew early on that providing this didn't change I would be rating this book highly.

Plot
The crying tree is about a tragedy that takes place within a family which sees the son, Shep, end up being shot in what appears at the time to be a burglary of the house of which he has simply got in the way of. It explains the difficult grieving process for the family involved, particularly of the mother Irene who quite understandably, from that point onwards loses the will to live and kind of lives in a sort of limbo. Alongside the story from Irenes perspective both past and present, the story is also told by Tab mason,the superintendent of the prison in which Daniel Robbins (the guy blamed for killing Shep) resides. In terms of plot, thats all I'm going to say, anymore would spoil it I feel but ultimately the theme of the book is of tragedy and forgiveness and it is told extremely well.

Characterisation

The book doesn't wane in its brilliance even in regards to its characters. All of these characters are fully fleshed out, developed and given lives that we can believe in (the one of Tab Mason is particularly interesting yet unexpected)..which makes the characters all the more believable. I loved Irene, I thought she was such a great protaganist whereas on the other hand I despised Nate, her husband...a man who seemed quite unlikeable for the most part but to a certain extent you could at least understand why....

Overall

An utterly fantastic book, a favourite of mine and one I will no doubt reread many times in years to come. The writing is brilliant, the storyline is brilliant and the characters are brilliant, what more is there to say than that? I really look forward to reading more work by this author!!

(less)

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Dec 20, 2010 Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Crying Tree is a page-turner, keeping you interested throughout the story. Irene Stanley is a born-and-bred rural Midwestern woman; one who got married way too young to her high school sweetheart, Nate. Nate is now a police officer, while Irene stays home with her 2 kids, Shep and Bliss. Shep is the apple of his mama’s eye, an intense but gentle boy who is gifted musically; but a boy whose demeanor and interests are vastly different from anything his father understands. Driven by a desire to...more The Crying Tree is a page-turner, keeping you interested throughout the story. Irene Stanley is a born-and-bred rural Midwestern woman; one who got married way too young to her high school sweetheart, Nate. Nate is now a police officer, while Irene stays home with her 2 kids, Shep and Bliss. Shep is the apple of his mama’s eye, an intense but gentle boy who is gifted musically; but a boy whose demeanor and interests are vastly different from anything his father understands. Driven by a desire to “toughen” Shep up, Nate accepts a promotion in Blaine, a small town not far from the desert in Oregon. It is there that the unthinkable happens: Shep is shot and killed in an apparent home invasion. The story really starts there; how the family deals with the unbearable grief of losing Shep. Unfortunately, it seems to pull the family apart, as each draws into themselves, unable to give voice to their feelings of loss. The funny thing is that not only is it their inability to overcome their own grief that perpetuates the silence , but also a desire to spare the other family members from additional pain that might be brought about by talking about it. This silence goes on for 10 years, until the day that would have been Shep’s 25th birthday, and Irene can handle the pain no more. She decides on one desperate course of action, but doesn’t follow through. Instead, she has an “aha” moment and takes her attitude, outlook and life in a completely different direction; one that gives her hope and strength, and alters the course of her life and relationships. It is in the exploration of this newfound strength and unflinching examination of her past actions, beliefs and role in her relationships that the story really shines. There is a lot to chew on here. But I found it a bit unbelievable that a person capable of such strength could really be so dang clueless most of the time. I mean, Irene is not a stupid woman by any means. Why was she so unaware of her son’s predicament and her husband’s simmering intolerance? She wised up late in life, and I was glad to read of Irene’s resolve to incorporate her new outlook into her life back in Illinois, come what may from the townspeople she knew. The other unbelievable story twist was the prison superintendent’s interest/relationship with Bliss. That seemed completely forced and unlikely. But neither of those drawbacks discouraged me from thinking about the issues that this book raises: genuine communication within relationships, forgiveness, acceptance, the meaning of true Christianity, living out one’s faith, and love. 3.5 stars.(less)

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Aug 08, 2011 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

A complex story of a family's journey through grief, depression, and the forgiveness process following the murder of their son/brother. During the brief time the Stanley family lived in a small Central Oregon town, their 15-year old son, Shep Stanley was found murdered in their home. After moving back to Illinois they continued to live fractured lives for nearly two decades ... until it is revealed that Irene (Mom) has been corresponding with the death row inmate, Daniel, who has been sentenced...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Jennifer rated it 1 of 5 stars

Started out promising enough: interesting premise (a bereaved mother forgives her son's killer, who is awaiting capital punishment), decent pace and storytelling. Around the halfway mark (maybe before), it started plodding, dialogue sounded like it came from an R-Rated Lifetime movie, with a few gratuitous scenes of violence and sex thrown in, along with liberal profanity. And then it became very clear that the author was writing with an agenda--one that was veiled at first, but then became prea...more

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About Naseem Rakha

Naseem is an award winning author and journalist whose stories have been heard on NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Her best selling novel The Crying Tree is a winner of the 2010 PNBA Book Award and recent Richard and Judy Book Club pick.

Naseem is interested in stories that have spur discussion and interest in critical social issues.

Naseem is represented by Markson Thoma Literary A...more

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“It had been so beautiful. Life had been so simple and so terribly beautiful.” — 8 people liked it

“Love is the prerogative of the brave (Mohandas Gandhi)” — 3 people liked it

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