The Healing Tree
A Mermaid, a Poet, and a Miracle

Synopsis of a book by Joe Tye

In the tradition of The Christmas Box and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Joe Tye’s new book The Healing Tree is a heart-warming story that also includes an important life lesson. After a speeding drunk driver plowed into her car, killing her husband and smashing her legs, Carrie Anne Murphy looked down upon her broken body from a high corner of the emergency room as the trauma team fought desperately to save her life. When she made the decision to come back, Carrie Anne had no idea how much pain she would have to endure. She also could not have dreamed of the blessings that this tragedy would bring into her life – if she could only endure the pain.

Fortunately, Carrie Anne doesn’t have to cope alone. Mysterious Maggie, the hospital’s poetry therapist and mermaid for drowning souls, helps Carrie Anne reclaim her soul and find her voice. Losing her legs, Carrie Anne discovers, was what it took for her to stop running away from a dream that had been chasing her since she was in ninth grade – the dream of sharing her heart in the words of her poems.

One unique feature of this book is the original poetry of both Maggie and Carrie Anne. Through their poems, the reader experiences the emotional roller coaster of life at its toughest – and cannot help but be inspired to confront his or her own challenges more courageously as a result. More than a dozen discussion questions at the end of the book will help readers think about how the powerful life lessons that are woven into this story can help them be more effective in their work and in their lives.