Novels and Necklaces: Blog Tour + Giveaway: The Suffering Tree

About the Book:
Title: The Suffering Tree

Publication Date: June 13th, 2017
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 368

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

Synopsis:

“It’s dark magic brings him back.”

Tori Burns and her family left D.C. for claustrophobic Chaptico, Maryland, after suddenly inheriting a house under mysterious circumstances. That inheritance puts her at odds with the entire town, especially Jesse Slaughter and his family-it's their generations-old land the Burns have "stolen." As the suspicious looks and muttered accusations of her neighbors build, so does the pressure inside her, and Tori returns to the pattern of self-harm that landed her in a hospital back in D.C. It all comes to a head one night when, to Tori's shock, she witnesses a young man claw his way out of a grave under the gnarled oak in her new backyard.

Nathaniel Bishop may not understand what brought him back, but it's clear to Tori that he hates the Slaughters for what they did to him centuries ago. Wary yet drawn to him by a shared sense of loss, she gives him shelter. But in the wake of his arrival comes a string of troubling events-including the disappearance of Jesse Slaughter's cousin-that seem to point back to Nathaniel.

As Tori digs for the truth-and slowly begins to fall for Nathaniel-she uncovers something much darker in the tangled branches of the Slaughter family tree. In order to break the curse that binds Nathaniel there and discover the true nature of her inheritance, Tori must unravel the Slaughter family's oldest and most guarded secrets. But the Slaughters want to keep them buried at any cost.

The Story Behind the Cover:

Truth?

I cried the first time I saw the final design for the exquisite cover of The Suffering Tree. Not just because it’s so incredibly striking in its contrast, or because the art seems to come alive on the page. But because the cover, like the novel, promises to take readers on a journey. I cried because I could start at the top of the jacket and follow Nathaniel and Emmeline’s tale with the tip of my finger as I traced around the rings of the tree. And because of the seamless way their stories blended into Nathaniel and Tori’s, three-hundred years later, via the pathway through the woods, connecting Tori’s house to Nathaniel’s tree.

The designer, Maria Elias, and the illustrator, Justine Howlett, somehow captured not only the fine details of the plot, but also the arcs and struggles of the characters. Nathaniel is drawn delicately into the roots, at once part of the tree and yet he seems forced to bear the weight of it as he climbs his way out. To me, this image couldn’t be a more perfect representation of the burden of the tree’s curse upon him.

And here, the ship that brought Nathaniel and Emmeline to the colonies as children where they were sold to a plantation under a falsified indenture, is drawn as if connected to the farm by the waves of the sea that carried it. Yet in the same image, his old life lies on the other side of a deep ravine, a gouge so deep in its trunk it seems impassable, perfectly capturing Nathaniel’s sentiments of loss and his longing for home.

“As a boy, I ached to cross it, but even if I dove in and swam, or stowed away with a captain and sailed, the distance was so vast and I was already so changed, it felt like nothing would be the same had I returned.”

Turn the book over, and the back jacket tells an equally powerful story of yearning. Tori and Nathaniel reach for each other across the gap, the curse and the secrets that lie beneath the tree.

And best of all is the finishing. The dark illustrations depicting these struggles are embossed, bold lines and images that stand out from the foreground. And behind them, shining through it all, a hint of pearlescence reveals itself. The stars and clouds and sky seem to shimmer with it, catching the light as if illuminating the scenes from within when you turn them just the right way. I won’t spoil the reason this feels so perfect to the story. Astute readers will spot that small but significant detail in the book, and I hope it will give them a secret satisfaction when they do.

There are other things. . . other small details in the cover I’m dying to share with you but can’t without spoiling the mysteries inside it. The rest you’ll have to discover on your own.

My countless thanks to the entire team at Disney Hyperion for bringing The Suffering Tree to life through this unforgettable cover.

Follow the Tour!

Follow the The Suffering Tree by Elle Cosimano Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Elle Cosimano

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Elle Cosimano grew up in the Washington, DC suburbs, the daughter of a maximum security prison warden and an elementary school teacher who rode a Harley. She spent summers working on a fishing boat in the Chesapeake Bay, baiting hooks, scrubbing decks, and lugging buckets of chum. A failed student of the hard sciences, she discovered her true calling in social and behavioral studies while majoring in psychology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Fifteen years later, Elle set aside a successful real-estate career to pursue writing. She lives with her husband and two sons in Northern Virginia and Mexico.

Elle’s debut, Nearly Gone, was a 2015 Edgar Award finalist and winner of the International Thriller Award. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Horror Writers Association, and Sisters In Crime. She was selected for the 2012 Nevada SCBWI Agented & Published Authors’ Mentorship Program, where she worked under the guidance of Ellen Hopkins. She attended the Writers’ Police Academy at Guilford Technical Community College, Department of Public Safety, to conduct hands-on research for her books.