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The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha



Synopsis:  Irene Stanley thought her world had come to an end when her teenage son, Shep, is murdered. Daniel Robbin, who had spent his teenage years in and out of trouble, gave himself up to the police and was given the state's harshest sentence: death by lethal injection. Now, nineteen years later, as the state penitentiary prepares to execute Robbin, Irene Stanley must reveal what she has been hiding from her family. That in order to survive the anger and grief she had at loosing her so, she not only had forgiven the man who killed him, but had come to be his friend. Her revelation stuns her family and cracks open the secrets that had been surrounding her son's death. Secrets that reveal how little she understood Shep, her husband, or herself. Dramatic, emotional, 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.

My Thoughts: I read this book for book club and I have to say it was a wonderfully emotional and beautifully written story. The only reason I would give it four starts instead of five (out of five) was because it had a section in the middle that I found to be a bit boring compared to the rest of the book.  I think it could have been cut down to be a shorter book and would have been so much better for it.  That said, it was an emotionally powerful and thought provocting book and I loved it.


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