Jacquelynn Luben started writing 'The Fruit of the Tree' about
three years after the death of her baby daughter, a cot death victim.
She had first written articles to describe the nature and trauma of
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and to publicise the support groups that
were then available. It seemed a natural progression to write a full length book, since she found that short
pieces were not adequate to describe her experience.
'The Fruit of the Tree' told, in addition, of the loss of two babies through
early miscarriage, but it also brought in the births
of her other children, and the events over a five year period of married life. She felt that in order to understand the impact of a tragedy, it was necessary to
hear about other aspects of life. Tragedies do not happen to tragic people, and such events
do not occur in isolation.
It seemed appropriate, therefore, to include other events that took place in
the first few years of married life, some of which were amusing events or happy
occasions and some of which were unusual. So the book describes how she and her
husband built a house in a wood, and lived there for six months without laid-on
gas or electricity. It also narrates her disasters as a novice driver, on one occasion
driving into the back of a police car.
Having written a self help book which was first published in 1985, she
decided to publish 'The Fruit of the Tree' herself in 1992, to commemmorate the 21st
anniversary year of her daughter’s birth and death.
The book has recently been reprinted for the fourth time.
