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The Crying Tree A Novel Naseem Rakha 9780767931403 Books

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The Crying Tree A Novel Naseem Rakha 9780767931403 Books

This is a hard review to write because I don't believe I can be fair. My expectations and hopes for the story were unreasonable. I learned of The Crying Tree after running across an article the author wrote called Healing in a Hard Place which described Oregon's Facilitated Dialogue Program, where an offender and a victim can meet. For the article, she had interviewed a woman who met with her mother's killer and a prison chaplain who volunteered as a facilitator in the program.

I read the book just shortly before my meeting with the person who killed my own son. I suppose I hoped for a story that somewhat paralleled my own, with characters and emotions and actions I could relate to, that would help prepare me for my own face to face with a killer. Instead I didn't really identify with anyone at any time, except perhaps when Irene got to the point where she wanted to help and support Daniel, the man convicted of killing her son. I DO feel that and I do kind of feel secretive about it because it's not really a popular perspective. But what I really hoped for was more about grief and coping; the characters seemed flat to me for the most part. I also hoped for more information and more feelings about the Facilitated Dialogue Program and meet itself, but in the book the program is not even named and was nothing at all like described (I WAS privileged to have the same facilitator that the author interviewed for her article; she was incredible).

So again, I can't fairly judge because I read the book from the perspective of someone who lived a similar story (a homicide, forgiveness of and meeting with the perpetrator) while the author was someone imagining what it might be like. Also, most of the story was set years and years after the crime, while my child was killed just 15 months ago.

I would still recommend the book for anyone wondering about forgiveness when it seems it would be impossible.


Tags : The Crying Tree: A Novel [Naseem Rakha] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <b>Book Description</b><br/> Irene and Nate Stanley are living a quiet and contented life with their two children,Naseem Rakha,The Crying Tree: A Novel,Broadway Books,0767931408,Grief;Fiction.,Loss (Psychology);Fiction.,Teenagers;Death;Fiction.,AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY FICTION,American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +,Death,FICTION General,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Psychological,Fiction Sagas,Fiction-Psychological,GENERAL,General Adult,Grief,Loss (Psychology),Oregon,Teenagers,United States

The Crying Tree A Novel Naseem Rakha 9780767931403 Books Reviews

This book was a little slow starting, but once I got into it I enjoyed it very much. It is so sad, but compelling. The story is well thought out, and brings you full circle to a different outcome than you originally thought. I would recommend this as a good read.
I'm not sorry I continued on and finished this book. Some life lessons in this read for sure.
My friend told me that I just had to read, "The Crying Tree". We have such different taste when it comes to reading I told him I would but thinking I probably wouldn't. He just insisted that I downloaded "The Crying Tree" immediately to my . He aroused my curiosity, and I downloaded right away. I was hooked from the start. I started to guess what was coming, and then I was knocked to the ground not at all close to what I was thinking. I leveled off in my reading for awhile, still very much hooked, and then I found myself knocked to the ground once again. "The Crying Tree", is a front seat ride into a tale that pulls your heart strings in so many ways that you literally feel as if your breath has been taken away. Five stars without any doubts!
Forgiveness. How many of us could have forgiven as Irene did? I was sorry when the book ended. The development of the characters in the story was wonderful. Be prepared to feel deeply.
I have to say wow, this book is unbelievable. The story started in the direction of a happy family. As tradegy happened and the book spiraled into the aftermath of coping post tradegy each person involved with Daniel Robbins has a different perspective how the story affects them. There are a lot of moments that one doesn't see coming but added to the story. I feel that Naseem Rakha took the concept of forgiveness and really gave me insight as to its power.
This is such a good book! Our book club chose this and I was actually a little reluctant to read it..murder, prison, loss. It turns out to be about forgiveness and change and so much more. It is a very readable, page-turner that will leave you thinking about the characters long after you finish the book. Thumbs up!
Naseem Rakha’s novel “The Crying Tree” is insightful, wonderfully expressive, and will strike a nerve in all but the most callous. It’s about forgiveness; what initiates the need, why it becomes an obsession, and how the move impacts relationships. Rakha’s insight has been gained through much careful reflection and personal experience, and she masterfully conveys how the letting go of anger can affect life.

“The Crying Tree” is about a young family visited by a terrible tragedy. A 15-year old son and brother is killed during an apparent robbery. Painful emotions are stirred, lives are forever altered, and relationships disintegrate. The father, Nate Stanley, a deputy sheriff, is present at the shooting and Seth dies in his arms. He retreats within himself, never discussing the incident. The mother, Irene, goes through heavy emotional turmoil, including intense hatred for the killer, and descends into a world of denial, self-incrimination, and depression. As a result Nate and Irene see their marital relationship fall apart. The boy’s sister, Bliss, breaks away from the family, goes away to college, and becomes a successful prosecutor, living a life far away from the turmoil at home.

After many years of watching the execution of the killer be delayed by the crawl of the justice system, Irene decides that to save herself she will have to reach out in forgiveness to Daniel Robbin, the shooter and death row inmate. Correspondence is initiated and goes on for years until Nate discovers the routine and is emotionally destroyed. Irene is determined to both meet with Robbin and get his execution stayed, causing an even deeper divide between her and her husband.

The story is perhaps not as important as is the study of the nature and impact of forgiveness as presented by Rakha. Her description of the emotional turmoil and the different ways it is handled by all involved is wrenching and realistic. If the reader has lost a child, as I have, emotions will be revived that have been long suppressed. Those who have not suffered such a tragedy will struggle with the pain of imagining such a loss. Could any of us even contemplate reaching Irene’s decision of forgiving the killer of her child?

Rakha probably has an opinion about the practice of capital punishment. To her credit, she shelves any such view and presents her story as purely a study of forgiveness. There is no hint of either a favorable or unfavorable position. The reader is shielded from any type of biased moralizing with the author focusing instead on the difficulty letting go of hatred and attempting to find peace.

This book is a marvelous study of human nature and conflict. The dialogue crackles with authenticity, the locations are beautifully described, and the reader’s emotions are under constant bombardment. It’s a must read.

Schuyler T Wallace
Author of TIN LIZARD TALES
This is a hard review to write because I don't believe I can be fair. My expectations and hopes for the story were unreasonable. I learned of The Crying Tree after running across an article the author wrote called Healing in a Hard Place which described Oregon's Facilitated Dialogue Program, where an offender and a victim can meet. For the article, she had interviewed a woman who met with her mother's killer and a prison chaplain who volunteered as a facilitator in the program.

I read the book just shortly before my meeting with the person who killed my own son. I suppose I hoped for a story that somewhat paralleled my own, with characters and emotions and actions I could relate to, that would help prepare me for my own face to face with a killer. Instead I didn't really identify with anyone at any time, except perhaps when Irene got to the point where she wanted to help and support Daniel, the man convicted of killing her son. I DO feel that and I do kind of feel secretive about it because it's not really a popular perspective. But what I really hoped for was more about grief and coping; the characters seemed flat to me for the most part. I also hoped for more information and more feelings about the Facilitated Dialogue Program and meet itself, but in the book the program is not even named and was nothing at all like described (I WAS privileged to have the same facilitator that the author interviewed for her article; she was incredible).

So again, I can't fairly judge because I read the book from the perspective of someone who lived a similar story (a homicide, forgiveness of and meeting with the perpetrator) while the author was someone imagining what it might be like. Also, most of the story was set years and years after the crime, while my child was killed just 15 months ago.

I would still recommend the book for anyone wondering about forgiveness when it seems it would be impossible.