‘If The Crying Tree doesn’t make you cry, you have better control over your blubbing than I do. This is an astonishing debut novel.’ Richard Madeley, Woman’s Own 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. ‘If you enjoy reading Jodi Picolut, you’ll love Naseem Rakha. These are big themes for a new writer but Rakha knows what she’s doing . . . The Crying Tree is, quite simply, a terrific story.’ Judy Finnigan, Woman’s Own