The 2011 South Coast Writers Conference is over and done. Naseem Rakha, author of The Crying Tree, was the keynote. Before the conference, when I recommended The Crying Tree, I found myself calling it a dense read, because you have to read every word, none are superfluous. I also said it was about finding forgiveness - something everyone needed to learn more about.
I know that I responded to The Crying Tree because it struck a chord with the day my family's world turned upside down and our journey back. But as my 87 year old mother said when she looked up after reading the final words, carefully, tenderly closing the book, "this is a good book, the best book I have read since Cutting for Stone. It is an important book, one that will change lives. . . but now I need a light read, something to make me laugh." She made me stop at a bookstore for a copy for my sister before flying home.
My mom was right, as she usually is about books. Read The Crying Tree and if Naseem Rakha comes to a town near yours - go see her. She will not disappoint. Her web site is: http://naseemrakha.com/.
