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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.
This complex, layered story of a family's journey toward justice and forgiveness comes together through spellbinding storytelling. Deputy sheriff Nate Stanley calls home one day and announces he's accepted a deputy post in Oregon. His wife, Irene, resents having to uproot herself and their children, Shep and Bliss, from their small Illinois town, but Nate insists it's for the best. Once they've moved into their new home, Shep sets off to explore Oregon's outdoors, and things seem to be settling in nicely until one afternoon when Nate returns home to find his 15-year-old son beaten and shot in their kitchen. After Shep dies in Nate's arms, the family seeks vengeance against the young man, Daniel Joseph Robbin, accused of Shep's murder. In the 19 years between Shep's death and Daniel's legal execution, Bliss becomes all but a caretaker for her damaged parents, and a crisis pushes Irene toward the truth about what happened to Shep. Most of the big secret is fairly apparent early on, so it's a testament to Rakha's ability to create wonderfully realized characters that the narrative retains its tension to the end. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.A more common name for the "crying tree" is the willow, and one grows near Steven (Shep) Stanley's grave in Blaine, OR. This 15-year-old was killed in his home, and his best friend, Daniel, has been found guilty of the crime and waits a lethal injection on death row. Gifted musician Shep was definitely the center of the world for his mother, Irene, and the intensity of her grief is exquisitely portrayed in this moving, unsentimental tale of loss. After years of severe depression, withdrawal from her family, and alcoholism, Irene comes to realize that if she does not forgive her son's killer she will be destroyed. She secretly writes to Daniel in prison, and they begin corresponding. Then Irene receives written notice of the execution date and knows she must act. VERDICT 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, especially for readers interested in the subject of loss and coping.—Lisa Rohrbaugh, New Middletown, OH
Dear Readers,
In 1996, I was assigned to cover Oregon’s first execution in over thirty years. At the time I had never given much thought to the death penalty and what it would take for the state to plan out, prepare, and then kill a man. After the assignment, I wanted to learn more, so I began to interview death-row inmates, the people they had harmed, and the men and women we entrust to carry out our nation’s most severe sentence. During that time I heard many stories, some of them abhorrent and some heartbreaking, but by far the most compelling were those told by the people who had come to terms with the murder of a loved one and no longer felt it necessary to seek retribution. This arc, from the most desperate kind of anguish to reconciliation and even love stunned me, and compelled me to write The Crying Tree.
I offer these questions because they are the very ones I asked myself as I wrote this book.
Shep Stanley is a loner, a mama's boy with a God given musical gift. When he is murdered in his home at the age of 15, his family's world spins out of control. Nothing is ever again the same, as if the soul of the family was murdered along with Shep. The murder occurs as the book opens, and guides us through the eighteen year long wait for the execution of Shep's killer. What the family learns along the way leads them to redemption, and teaches the reader about the healing power of forgiveness. I have been an avid reader for 40 years, and this is one of the best books I have ever read. I read through the night. This book should come with a warning label - do not be surprised if at the end of the book you weep. Weeping in part because of the heartbreak of their story - the strength they show through the heartbreak - the way they heal - and because you feel a bit cheated as you never want this amazing novel to end. As the killer comments right before he dies. "You've gone and done it now, General. You've really gone and done it now....Pain and grace, sir. Pain and grace." I can't wait to read Naseem Rakha's next book. Through The Crying Tree she has proven that she is a fresh new voice with a gift to share with those of us lucky enough to seek and receive her light.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This was receommended by my friend at Barnes and Noebl. It was a good read. I liked reading about the characters, how they moved, the tragedy and how they dealt witht he tragedy. Overall very well worth the time I am still thinking about this book weeks later.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 8, 2009
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I have just completed Naseem Rakha's work, "The Crying Tree", and feel moved to write with words of commendation and deep appreciation. I discovered the novel at an area Barnes & Noble bookstore where it was displayed with works by emerging new writers. The cover featured a young boy with a trumpet--an instant attraction to this recently retired school band director! Reading the cover notes confirmed my need to purchase.
I am struck by the clean and simple way the novel reads... it reminds me of the elegant balance of a Mozart. I was hooked instantly with dialogue, character, and action that resonates as "true-to-life". Well-crafted and polished, I am now enjoying a slower re-read to savor the richness of its descriptive nuance
In the process of reading, I grew to truly care for the players in the story and their struggles. The issue of forgiveness is profoundly important for our times. My parish is offering a series on capital punishment, and I have recommended "Crying Tree" for discussion.
I look forward to Rakha's next works with anticipation and will continue to sing the praises of "Crying Tree".
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Debut author Naseem Rakha has penned a touching albeit sad story of a family riven by grief. Her characters are hobbled, not crippled physically but emotionally, sickened by hatred, isolated by an inability to communicate, and driven to find reason for the inexplicable.
Our story opens in 2004 when Tad Mason , Superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary, receives notice that after 19 years an execution date has been set for Daniel Robbin. The condemned man had been but 19-years-old himself when he was found guilty of beating and then shooting a 15-year-old boy, Shep Stanley, during an attempted home robbery.
Now, after all this time Robbin has stopped his appeals and it fell to Mason to make sure the execution is carried out properly and promptly. He'd never been in charge of what he referred to as a "procedure" before, and he has no stomach for it. However, it is his job and his career depends upon it being done correctly.
Flashback to the fall of 1983 when Nate Stanley arrives home to tell his wife, Irene, that he has accepted a better job as deputy sheriff in the tiny town of Blaine, Oregon. The family which also consists of their two children, Bliss and Shep, will be relocating immediately. Irene does not want to leave the won in which she grew up, her family and lifelong friends, but she acquiesces and the family moves.
They seem to be adjusting well to their new life when Shep is shot, killed in the family home. Shep's death was inconceivable to her, "There was no way she would let her boy die. He was her life, her breath, her son.....A mother does not let her son die." But Shep is gone.
Mourning may take many forms. Nate becomes stone, quiet, silent. Irene finds release in alcohol and an ever growing hatred for her son's killer. Bliss is left very much to her own resources. Impervious to the pleas of her sister, Carol, to pull herself together Irene sinks lower until she hits rock bottom. It is years later after a heated confrontation with Bliss that she realizes what she has become, and she tries to help herself by writing a letter to Daniel in which she offers forgiveness.
For this reader that is at the heart of Rakha's story - forgiveness. At one point Irene asks Superintendent Mason if he believes in forgiveness. His answer is, "I've heard of it." All of us have and The Crying Tree may cause many of us to redefine forgiveness in our own lives.
- Gail Cooke
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.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.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.In 1983 Union County, Illinois deputy sheriff Nate Stanley calls his wife Irene to inform her without warning that he accepted a position as a deputy post in Oregon. Irene is angry at her husband for not talking to her before he took the job with his Viet Nam buddy and frightened as she never was west of St, Louis. Still insisting he knows what is best for her and their two kids (teenager Shep and tweener Bliss), he relocates the family.
In Blaine, Oregon, fifteen years old Shep enjoys exploring the countryside and seems settled to the living on the West Coast. However, one day Nate comes home after a shift to find his son in their kitchen savagely beaten and shot in what looks like a robbery turned ugly; Shep dies in his arms. Stunned, Nate and Irene go after the accused cold blooded killer of their oldest child mechanic Daniel Joseph Robbin with cold blooded determination over the next two decades until he is executed by the state. During much of the obsession, Bliss becomes de facto caretaker of her parents as Irene lives for the devil's death and Nate cannot find any solace. However, in 2004 with the execution date set, Irene knows she must see and forgive her son's killer, whom she recently began exchanging letters with, if she is to move on.
THE CRYING TREE is a fabulous family drama that focuses on what happens to surviving loved ones when a violent unexpected tragedy occurs. The five key players in this calamity are fully developed in 1983 and in 2004; ergo the audience sees how much they each has changed over the two decades from the murder to the execution. Although a major "truism" twist will be seen early by everyone and feels intrusive, fans will appreciate Naseem Rakha's engaging aptly titled character story.
Harriet Klausner
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.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 that the plot was a bit predictable, and the characters somewhat stereotypical. I also thought the characters had an unrealistic, out-dated look towards one of the main themes later on in the novel. I found it hard to believe that everyone would be that closed minded and hateful about this particular theme in the year 2004. I also thought the book got a bit preachy towards the end. Despite all that, I still thought the book was an interesting (and quick) read.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 2, 2012
Hey can i join as geckokit black with brown stripes and green eyes
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Posted February 1, 2012
A ginger kit stumbles into the camp. Sunlight reflects off her ivory paws highlighting the unusual owl markings on them. Lifting her head slightly, she mews softly, "I'm Sweetspirit's new kit, Owlkit"
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Posted January 29, 2012
Someone rp my kits darkkit(black tom) and ripplekit(white she cat with a gray stripe on her back) rp them!!!! They r weedclan kits. Join weedclan kits as darkkit or ripplekit or make ur own cat!!!!! Plz join. Answer in warriors fading echoes.
Skystar of weedclan
Anonymous
Posted January 29, 2012
Sweetspirt thats nice of u but umm... well no thanks we dont want another mother. But thats super nice of u
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Posted January 29, 2012
Ok
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Posted January 28, 2012
Hi i hav come to join ur clan.
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Posted January 28, 2012
Yes I will. You will be my very first apprentice.
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Posted January 27, 2012
Do you want to meet some other kits? If so, go to the greatest tree third reasult at 8:45PM(eastern time) on 1/28/12. It doesn't matter what clan your from just come! Hope ro see you there!
~Flamekit
Anonymous
Posted January 30, 2012
Could be her mother
Smudgestripe yur stepfather
Anonymous
Posted February 2, 2012
I don't have powers! But you are important as anyone Foxkit! I may be from a different family then you but your still my Littermate. *Gentlekit purred her sea colored eyes sparkled with joy*
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Posted February 2, 2012
Thanks. *Still looks doubtful* (g2g)
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Posted February 1, 2012
I can be Iriskit. If its open
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Posted January 30, 2012
I AM DARKNESS HE THEN STEALS THE KITS AND BURNS FOWN ALL THE DENS BEAT THAT HE SAYS
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Overview
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 ...