The Suffering Tree is the story of a deeply troubled teen, struggling with grief and questions over her own identity, who literally unearths the past when she discovers the body of a 18th century indentured servant buried under a cursed tree in her new backyard, land her family inherited under mysterious circumstances. Only the boy isn’t dead. He has a story to tell—the story of his own murder. And the family who owned the land before is determined to keep the past buried at any cost.

It’s part historical, part modern-day thriller--two mysteries interconnected, three hundred years apart. It’s a love story. And a ghost story. Both romantic and creepy. 

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books says it’s "deliciously unpredictable... a compelling exploration of how roots twisted in cruelty affect a family tree for generations to come." 

The Blacklist and Dexter are two of my favorite TV thrillers. I love stories in which the lines between hero and villain are blurred--when a deeply flawed hero is both human and monster, sympathetic and relatable because within them, we see the terrifying bits of our own selves. I can’t get enough of them.

The story of The Suffering Tree came to me during my son’s kindergarten field trip to a local farm. As the bus went rolling down a scenic country road in Virginia, we passed miles and miles of lush green fields, and somewhere in the middle of them, a very peculiar tree. It was old and long dead, its bark bleached white and peeling from the sun. At its base was a cluster of very old headstones. They were thin and leaning, heaving up around the tree’s roots and so covered in moss they were impossible to read. I began wondering why no one was caring for the cemetery. I began wondering why the tree was dead and who might be buried beneath it, and if it was haunted. I knew the history of the early colonies in the area, and I began to imagine a tale of two children, thrust into a seven-year indenture, and what might have become of them when they finally came of age. I wondered what they would say if they could tell their own stories.

You can see pictures of the tree that inspired the story here.

“We try to hide things, to bury our own shame. But it ain’t the nature of secrets to lay down quiet. Shame’s gonna find its way to the surface. It don’t matter. . . You can cover secrets in more secrets. . . You can bury ’em deep. But the more you try to hold ’em down, the harder they’re gonna fight to come out. And the Slaughters got a lot of history to wrestle with. They got a lot of shame scratching at their back door. And they’re not gonna let no one open it and let it all come rushin’ in.”

I think all of Nathaniel’s memories were my favorite scenes to write. This was my first time writing about a historical time period, and it was really fun (and challenging) to translate my research to the page! 

Warm apple cider, roasted peanuts, and a warm wooly blanket around your shoulders. Crack a window and listen to the wind rustle the trees sometime just after dark.

That remains to be seen. I’m drafting my first adult suspense novel and I’m really excited about how it’s coming together. I’m also in the drafting stages of two new YA novels--a YA urban fantasy and a YA contemporary crime thriller. I guess you could say my attention is divided between three projects at the moment. I’m curious to see which one finds its way into the world first!

Author of NEARLY GONE, NEARLY FOUND, HOLDING SMOKE, and THE SUFFERING TREE (Disney*Hyperion, 2017). Represented by Sarah Davies of The Greenhouse Literary Agency.