Seeking some answers: Silverton author tackles tough topic

By Kristine Thomas

Is it possible to forgive the unforgivable?

That question led to another and another, prompting Naseem Rakha of Silverton to seek some answers.

An award-winning journalist, Rakha shares what she discovered in her first novel, The Crying Tree, which will be released July 7.

The Crying Tree tells the story of Irene and Nate Stanley and their children, Bliss and Shep.

Fifteen-year-old Shep is shot and killed during a robbery in his home. The convicted murderer, Daniel Robbin, is placed on death row.

Rakha explores what happens when a family is fractured by the murder of a beloved child and the consequences when secrets are kept and then revealed.

Sitting at Rolling Hills Bakery on a rainy June morning, Rakha outlined the busy summer ahead of her that includes a book tour and speaking engagements.

She invites community members to attend her book launch at Powell’s, 1005 W. Burnside in downtown Portland, July 13 at 7:30 p.m. or the Salem launch July 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Tea Party Bookshop, 420 Ferry St., S.E.

Rakha is in awe that The Crying Tree has been nominated for the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and was featured at the Emerging Voices Series at BookExpo America in May.

In the autumn, Barnes and Noble will highlight the book for its Discover Great New Writers program.

Already, Rakha said, she’s getting calls from her agent asking what her second book will be about – it’s to be finished by October 2010.

“There is a whole different kind of pressure now that I have one book coming out,” she said.

The journey of writing the book to having it published still brings tears of joy to her eyes. She recounted the day last year when, as she was driving with her father, Mohammed Allah Rakha, to Colorado she got a phone call from her husband, Chuck Sheketoff. He played her a recorded phone message from an agent saying she loved The Crying Tree.

“Not only is it good,” her soon-to-be literary agent said, “it is important.”

Laney Katz Becker of Folio Literary Management in New York City is Rakha’s literary agent.

“In The Crying Tree, Naseem makes you think about the very complex and highly charged issue of the death penalty – not so much in terms of the punishment – but in terms of the people,” Katz Becker said.

The Crying Tree is “an emotionally-charged novel that leaves you desperate to talk to someone about what you’ve just read. It’s not often that a book makes me feel that way,” Katz Becker said.

The idea for the novel came from Rakha’s experience covering the execution of Douglas Wright in 1996 for National Pubic Radio and Oregon Public Broadcasting. Wright was the first criminal executed in Oregon in more than 30 years. He had been sentenced to death in 1993 for killing three homeless men.

Rakha, who was in the media pool, said covering the execution brought “a host of questions to my mind. I saw how it affected reporters and the people who had to carry it out and the victims’ survivors.”

With her curiosity peaked, she interviewed people including Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking and Silverton resident Aba Gayle, whose daughter, Catherine Blount, was murdered in 1980.

“I was flabbergasted by Aba Gayle’s story of living for the execution of her daughter’s murderer, to actually forgiving and even befriending the man. Now she is an activist against the death penalty,” Rakha said. “I couldn’t get her story out of my mind. As a mother, I didn’t know if I could do what Aba Gayle did.”

Needing to understand for herself how one forgives the unforgivable, Rakha began writing The Crying Tree in 2004, the year her mother, Beverly Rakha, died.

“She knew I wanted to be a writer since I was in the fourth grade and read Harriet the Spy,” Rakha said.

She recalled how people reacted when she told them she was writing a book. “They looked at me like I’d just said I want to be an astronaut.”

That’s why she is thankful for the support of her family.

“My family has been tremendous. They never once questioned my goal and have been there every step of the way,” said Rakha, adding her husband, Chuck, and 9-year-old son, Elijah, are always giving her ideas how to put the book into more hands. Elijah has committed the first sentence of the book to memory, though he is upset that his mother won’t let him read the book until he’s older.

“It has some very adult themes and language,” Rakha said. “I would not recommend it until a child is at least 14.”

Writing the book was “the most challenging thing I’ve done, next to being a mom,” Rakha said, adding the subject matter of the book – murder, the death penalty, grief and forgiveness – are difficult to approach.

Her goal, however, was to create a book about the ability of people to find redemption and healing even in times of the greatest loss and confusion.

From early reviews, she said, it appears the book does just that.

On June 12, a reviewer with the Amazon Vine Program wrote, “… The Crying Tree is a story of love, grief, hate and forgiveness. It is a novel with intensity and an exceptional plot line. The Crying Tree effectively teaches sacred tenets and values because it relates spiritual growth to life’s troubles.”

The reviewer also wrote, “This tale is very personal for me, as my son was killed 12 years ago. I have often wondered if anyone could adequately describe the horror, emotions and physical reaction of losing a beloved child. I believe Naseem accomplishes that task.”