The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha

This was a recommendation from Sister BT who probably could relate to the prison scenes in the book.  While I'm not familiar with prisons, I do know a thing or two about secrets, and there were lots of those in The Crying Tree.  I had to fight the urge to gather all the characters in a room and have them all spill their guts just to see what would happen.  The main character, Irene, is devastated and angry when her son is shot.  The shooter is on death row, and after being miserable for years, Irene chooses to forgive the shooter and begins a secret correspondence with him.  Her husband, Nate, knows much more about the murder than he tells anyone.  Even the shooter has a story he keeps to himself.  This is really a great book, and the characters are well done.  However, it's a sad book, and even with the outlook of hope at the end, it still is hard to read sometimes.  Thanks, BT.  -June