Forgiveness has the power
to transform lives in this compelling novel.

THE CRYING TREE
Naseem Rakha

www.naseemrakha.com
www.randomhouse.com

Broadway Books / Random House
$14.00  Trade Paperback Reprint
ISBN:  9780767931748
July 2010
Fiction / a Midwest family in crisis

Featured on Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next” on July 26! 
JULY 26 BOOK SEGMENT
Click here for more info. 

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.

“THE CRYING TREE is a story about that land and the kinds of people that live and depend on it. People whose farms, communities, history and families are as strongly attached to them as their skin. The book is set in the fictional town of Carlton, Illinois, which sits on a ledge of the Mississippi River in southern Illinois. It is about a family whose child is murdered during a brief move to Oregon’s high desert. When the family returns to Illinois, they struggle with their loss and the secrets it enfolds.”
– author Naseem Rakha

“THE CRYING TREE  is a powerful novel full of moral questions as well as surprises. Like real life, there are no easy roads for these characters, but they make their way, one step at a time.”
–Las Vegas Review-Journal

“THE CRYING TREE is hauntingly beautiful and sad as Rakha examines themes of hate, forgiveness, redemption, acceptance and love. Here, Rakha brings hard questions for which there are no black-and-white answers to the fore. Readers are forced to question their own beliefs as Rakha’s characters delve into their own.”–Deseret News

“Absorbing and deeply melancholy….Delving into the controversial subjects of capital punishment, forbidden relationships and forgiveness for horrific acts, [Rakha's] debut novel seems designed to inspire heated debate in book clubs.” –BookPage

Buy this book from your favorite locally owned and operated Midwest independent bookseller!
Click here for the directory of our member bookstores

 MBA BOOKSELLER INFORMATION

Booksellers — Earn up to $100 in rebates from MBA for promoting THE CRYING TREE!

THE CRYING TREE is available from Random House or from your preferred wholesaler.  Be sure to contact the publisher for more information about this title. 

If you are interested in scheduling an event, interview, or book club event or phoner with author Naseem Rakha, please contact Dennelle Catlett at Broadway Publicity by email: dcatlett@randomhouse.com or telephone at 212.782.9486.  Rakha  lives in the Pactific Northwest , so her availability for in-person events is limited.

MBA and Broadway Books would love to have your comments and reviews for this Midwest Connections Pick. Please send them to us so we can share your endorsements with your fellow MBA booksellers and with your customers!

DOWNLOADS

SIGN FOR JULY 26 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF) — for Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next”
SHELF-TALKERS FOR JULY 26 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF) — for Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next”

Note:  The shelf-talkers need to be printed on card stock and cut apart along crop marks. Each book has its own shelf-talker, which is double so that it can be used either on the shelf under the book, or as a slip card standing up from the top of the book like a large bookmark.

• Full-color sign/flyer (PDF)
• Full-color shelf-talker (PDF)
• Press release (PDF)
• Author’s letter (PDF)
• Reading group guide (PDF)
• Author photo (JPG)
• Book cover photo (JPG)
• Midwest Connections rebate form for THE CRYING TREE (PDF)
• Midwest Connections Generic Display Materials

ABOUT THE BOOK

When THE CRYING TREE opens, 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. Despite Irene’s misgivings, the family moves. Just as they are settling into their life in Oregon, the unthinkable happens: fifteen-year-old Shep is shot and killed during an apparent robbery in their home. The murderer, a young mechanic named Daniel Robbin, 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 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 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 notice that Daniel Robbin has stopped his appeals and will be executed within a month. The announcement shakes the very core of the Stanley family. Irene, it turns out, isn’t the only family member with a secret. As the execution date nears, the Stanleys must face difficult truths and find a way to come to terms with the past.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Naseem Rakha is an award-winning journalist whose stories have been heard on NPR. She grew up in Illinois and lives in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.