I recently read The Wishing Trees by John Shors and found it to be a very soul touching, beautifully written story about a father and a daughter who are still grieving over the loss of Kate, wife and mother, but fulfill her last wish of traveling the world together on a trip they had planned to do as a family.

With Shors writing you can feel the tears fall from Mattie’s eyes and the pain that fills Ian’s heart. As they travel around the world they leave notes in Wishing Trees for Kate to read and it made me want to have a Wishing Tree here. Through their travels they come closer together as Father and Daughter and as that happens, you can see them learning how to accept their grief, not fight it, not like it, not ignore it, but accept it as part of their life. But not in a way that is negative. Their grief is a growing opportunity for them, it brings Mattie closer to knowing her Mother from the places she visits and the stories her Father tells her. It brings Ian close to his daughter because she is so similar to her Mother Kate, yet so different at the same time.

About The Wishing Trees:

“Almost a year after the death of his wife, Kate, former high-tech executive Ian finds a letter that will change his life. It contains Kate’s final wish – a plea for him to take their ten-year-old daughter, Mattie, on a trip across Asia, through all the countries they had planned to visit to celebrate their fifteenth anniversary.

Eager to honor the wife and mother they loved, Ian and Mattie embark on an epic journey that retraces the early days of Ian’s relationship with Kate. Along the way, Ian and Mattie leave paper “wishes” in ancient trees as symbols of their connection to Kate and their dreams for the future. Through incredible landscapes and inspiring people, Ian and Mattie are greeted with miracles large and small. And as they celebrate what Kate meant to them, they begin to find their way back to each other, discovering that healing is possible and that love endures – lessons that Kate hoped to show them all along…”

This book is about grief, learning, growing, accepting. A beautifully written book.

Great Gift For: The Book Lover in your life

The Wishing Trees can be purchased on Amazon for 15.00.