---
title: 'BOOKS: "The Crying Tree"'
description: 'The Crying Tree is a new novel by Naseem Rakha that raises the real-life question: Could you forgive the man who murdered your son? Rakha is an…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/books-the-crying-tree'
section: news
date: '2009-08-10T18:36:32-04:00'
updated: '2025-03-14T14:26:52-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

! ***The Crying Tree*** is a new novel by Naseem Rakha that raises the real-life question: Could you forgive the man who murdered your son? Rakha is an award-winning broadcast journalist whose work has been heard on NPR's "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition." The story of her novel is told through the lives of a mother whose son was murdered and the superintendent of a state penitentiary where the defendant's execution is to take place. Sister Helen Prejean, author of *Dead Man Walking*, said in review, "For anyone who has ever wondered how forgiveness is possible, even when the pain is overwhelming, wonder no more. *The Crying Tree* takes you on a journey you won't soon forget."

(N. Rakha, "The Crying Tree," Broadway Books, 2009). See [**Books**](/books-death-penalty?did=130&scid=20) and [**Victims**](/victims-and-death-penalty?did=573&scid=62).