Sold on a Monday is a well written novel with a good plot and well developed characters. I enjoyed the author's style of writing. I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

The consequences of a photograph can change lives in many ways. Lilly only meant to help get Ellis career started as a journalist but mishaps led to a change in a printed photo. This started a chain of events that affected many lives.

McMorris, Kristina
SOLD ON A MONDAY

Hard times, hard choices, and the courage to try to make things right. SOLD ON MONDAY is a compelling saga of mistakes and misunderstandings, and love and loyalty and dreams of happiness. I don’t know how I didn’t know of Kristina McMorris already, but I do want to read so much more of her beautiful writing.
It all started with a photograph, in real life as inspiration for the book and in the fictional tale that kept me reading and ignoring all else. People, with all their faults and frailties, so real I really cared about them as they moved through so many twists and turns and dangers.
Lily Palmer wants to be the next Nellie Bly, but is hired as a secretary, bringing “the Chief” his coffee properly cooled to lukewarm — woman’s work (even in the ‘70s want ads specified men/women, and most female college grads became secretaries). Ellis Reed dreams of front page bylines, but is relegated to writing about and photographing society event — also “woman’s work,” so humiliating to him and his desire to impress his father, but in the Depression, one didn’t turn down work, any work.
What’s a little deception if it furthers his honorable goals? What if children suffer for it? What if amends can be made? Is it worth the risks involved? Is there even a chance of succeeding against the rich and powerful? Some of these issues resonate strongly in present time.
Lily’s mother’s question, “You’ll be fine, but will you be happy?” Both, please. <3

Sold On a Monday is a novel based on a tragic, depressing time in history. A photographer happens upon a scene that shocks him. Off a porch in a rural house stands a sign “2 children for sale”. Could the parents really be so desperate as to sell their children? He snaps the picture and develops it. A co-worker sees the photo, shows it to her boss, and suddenly this becomes a full story. But what exactly is the truth? How are the children in the story? How are the parents impacted? Did they truly feel desperate enough to sell their own children to strangers? And how can good come from such a heartbreaking offer to sell your own flesh and blood?

Strong characters make you feel the tug on their hearts. I found myself pushing them to acknowledge their part and do all they could to get more information and make things right. This historical fiction stays with you long after the cover is closed.

“Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the ones we love...”

[The detective pulled a chair over to me in the hospital.] I heard, "Can you tell me how it all started?" The reporter in my head blended with the detective before me. I wasn't entirely sure which of them had asked...
I nodded at him slowly, remembering as I replied.

"It started with a picture."

Sold on a Monday, like many popular works of historical fiction set in the 1930's Great Depression is based on an iconic photograph. My favorite being, Mary Coin by Marissa Silver based on Dorothy Lange's photograph entitled, Migrant Mother. Sold on a Monday was inspired by a photograph (later questioned as authentic) of a mother and four children on a porch. A sign near them reads - 4 children for sale, inquire within.

Author, Kristina McMorris, nudged by the writer's innate question..".what if"... has created a world where a dramatic photograph, taken for personal use by a newspaper reporter on his own time, is found drying in the darkroom by the editor's secretary, Lily Palmer. The moving picture shows two children near a sign reading - "2 children for sale. Recognizing the work of Ellis Reed, Lily shows the photo to the editor.

The editor, recognizing the dramatic impact the picture will have on newspaper readers, instructs Ellis to write a story about it. Sniffing a chance to advance himself, perhaps leading to his own column, Ellis obliges. Puffed up proud, Ellis is brought down quickly when he is told that the negative and photo have been damaged and he must replace it immediately. Returning to the house, he finds the sign leaning against the porch and the family gone. (We never learn what happened to the original family; something that nagged at me long after I finished the book.)

In that instant he panics. He spots 2 children playing nearby at another house. Grabbing the "children for sale" sign, and with their mother's reluctant permission along with a handful of money, Ellis stages a new photo. Thus begins a spiral of disquiet that follows Ellis into his new career at a larger newspaper; a success launched by this story. As he rises in notoriety, he is constantly aware it is based on a lie. Lily, also observes, he has lost that special something that reaches the common man.

Lily Palmer, harboring a deep secret of her own, is reminded time and again of the deception when letters and gifts continually arrive at her newspaper for the exposed children. The gifts and letters are placed on the porch in the dead of night, the deliverers unable to face the family. The innocent children were never for sale.

After a time, and independently, Ellis and Lily seek to find out what consequences their individual actions have had on that misused family. They are both rocked to learn that the mother has been confined to a sanitarium and has died. The children were placed in an orphanage. The now infamous photograph led to the sale of the two children to a wealthy family.

Using his newspaper network, Ellis finds the family and scouts the new home. Peering through a window, he spots the young girl, Ruby, neatly dressed, and sitting near a smiling woman. He believes he hears a young a boy giggling in another room.

He tells Lily that all seems wonderful at first glance. But further efforts reveal that appearances don't necessarily define reality. Ellis and Lily set out to right their consciences and dredge up darkness they never dreamed possible. Their lives and the lives of the children are in danger.

Sold on a Monday is a fabulous 1930's era "Agatha Christie" mystery with some really sharp edges. The suspense moves slowly at first, careers sputter, personal relationships simmer, and all along we are aware that this is the Great Depression. Desperate times where desperation can lead a person to the "Dark Side." The novel does come to a spectacular moment that then settles down to a "happily-ever-after" finish.

Good read for a rainy day!
ARC provided by Sourcebook Landmark and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Rated: 4 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed "Sold on a Monday." While the subject content was at times unpleasant, McMorris did a masterful job of weaving the story and allowing the reader to connect with the characters. Learning about the history involved in the story was a bonus.

I received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book takes a true depression-era photograph about a family selling their children and contextualizes and expands it.

As a mother myself it was so horrifying to read, and yet absolutely amazing.

I could not get over my love for it, and read it all in one sitting on a plane - which is basically the dream.

A must-read!

This is a heartbreaking and poignant story, especially because it is based on an actual photograph taken during the great Depression. The author did a great job of melding this tragedy with the lives of the fictitious photographer and budding journalist. The plot was well paced with outstanding descriptions of desperation and hopelessness. .

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this book to me for review.

Set during the Great Depression, a young reporter for a newspaper, Ellis Reed, captures a picture of two children for sale that captures the hearts of readers. Through a lapse in judgement and a series of unexpected events, this results in unexpectedly consequences.. Ellis befriends secretary Lillian Palmer, who feels some responsibility for Ellis' plight having recommended his picture to the chief. Together the two try to undo the damage caused by the photo and along the way better understand themselves.. This story captured my interest and transported me to an interesting historical time period. It felt like watching an old black and white movie as the story, setting, characters, and the language all fit together.

Sold on a Monday is one of my favorite types of books; it both entertained me and taught me something new. The book takes place during the Great Depression. I’ve read other books with this era as a setting, but not one that so clearly showed me what lengths people may have to go to in order to survive. Can you imagine what it would be like to feel that your only option would be to sell your children?
Alongside this historical setting was a great story that included suspense, action, and a bit of romance. What a joy to be along for the ride as Ellis and Lillian try to right a wrong that was done to a mother and her two vulnerable children. Just when you thought it couldn’t get anymore exciting, it did! I highly recommend this book.

Historical fiction inspired by a true story of hard times and children sold for money. Sold on a Monday seemed a little slow in the beginning but quickly turned into a fast very paced story with exciting twists and turns. Set in 1931 in Philadelphia and New York area this story is full of crime, poverty, evil, life during the depression, gangsters, and a few decent people. Well worth the read for the historical perspectives but the thrills and suspense just make this book a very good read. My thanks to the author, the publisher and netgalley for making this book available for me to read and review.

I was very much looking forward to reading this and it did not disappoint!
The past was filled with incredible true stories that are sometimes far more incredible than fiction ever could be, Kristina McMorris did such a beautiful job of turning this true story into an inspiring novel that taught many about the tragedies of the past during The Great Depression, a time where we, as a country were at our lowest and so many parents, chose to do the unthinkable and 'sell' their children. I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Kristina McMorris has written an engaging story about what happens when a well-meaning reporter resorts to staging a photograph to save his job. The story perfectly captured the desperation of many families in the 1930’s as they struggled to earn a living and raise a family.

Reporter Ellis Reed took a photograph of two boys for sale, which illustrated the drastic measures some families had to resort to during the depression. As luck would have it, the photograph was damaged before going to press and Ellis was sent out to take another one. But when Ellis returns to the home, the family is nowhere to be found. What Ellis decides to do next will have devastating consequences.

Ellis joins forces with his friend and co-worker, Lily, and together they set out to right the situation at great expense to their own jobs and personal safety. With mob connections, a deranged farmer and a mentally unstable woman, Ellis and Lily prepare for possible disaster.

A very enjoyable read and one that I highly recommend to historical fiction lovers.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

Apparently this story was inspired by a newspaper photograph in the Great Depression of 1931 featuring two children on a porch with a sign ‘Children for sale’.

The plot centres on Ellis Reed who is a journalist and Lily Palmer who aspires to be a journalist but is employed as a PA for the ‘Chief’. Times are really hard; wages low; jobs scarce and for many life is a struggle to survive – particularly those with children and no job. Ellis’ relationship with his father is difficult and he struggles to make his father proud of him. For Lily, a single mother, there are many difficulties. Her son lives with her parents and she hides the fact that she is a mother from her work colleagues and only sees him on weekends.

One day whilst looking for a ‘news item’ Ellis discovers the children for sale and takes a photograph for his own collection. Lily discovers this when it is being developed and shows it to the Chief who recognises the quality of the image and the possibilities it offers. From here the plot develops and we are introduced to the reality of poverty and desperation of the poor, and the power and corruption pervading those who have influence, and money, and the ‘mob’.

Well written and evocative this is quietly powerful prose which illustrates the dilemmas of those whose ethics are challenged due to the conflict between what they know to be correct and how circumstances dictate their actions.

I was somewhat surprised (pleasantly) as to how the plot developed in places because at times I thought it would all be so predictable.

Despite the pathos, a thoroughly good read.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book (from NetGalley). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a very good book! A roller coaster of emotions covered the whole spectrum a few times over. I cried on several occasions from the possible devastating realities unfolding in Sold on a Monday. I definitely enjoyed the telling of this historical fiction, but I think I was maybe expecting the story would be told in a way that integrated the children's paths more right from the start or even from the perspective of the children themselves--rather than the reporters/newspaper employees. (I think because I was expecting that, I didn't really become invested until after the first third of the book--around chapter 15 or 16--when the children became the focal point of the novel. My recommendation is to hang in there, though because the novel in its entirety is well worth the acquiring the background information in Part 1.). Part two and three were certainly attention grabbing, suspense filled and action-packed enough to satisfy!!! For the sake of everyone involved, I am glad this one was not a true story!

A picture is worth a thousand words. The truth of this saying is depicted in Sold on a Monday. Years before the Internet, a heart-wrenching photo of a poor family in post-Depression America goes viral in newspapers across America and brings with it unexpected consequences.

Photographer/aspiring-reporter Ellis Reed experiences his big break as a reporter because of a photograph he took. Unfortunately, when the story runs, it is not with the photograph he originally took but with a staged version thereof taken by him in an effort to recreate the pathos of the original one. Subsequently, when asked by his boss to do a follow-up story on that family, Ellis learns the devastating repercussions of his deception. Together with a former co-worker, Lily Palmer, Ellis is determined to reunite the family torn asunder as a result of his actions.

For the most part, Sold on a Monday presents characters who are believable and true to their natures while depicting the difficulties of life for the many people left jobless as a result of the Depression. It appears to be historically accurate, presenting an authentic portrayal of life in America in the early 1930s.

My main complaints: I found the parts about Ellis’s interactions with the mob to be somewhat unrealistic. Additionally, I felt that the ending was a bit too pat, too predictable, and too sudden, leaving several story lines unresolved. I would have liked to have learned more about what ultimately happened to some of characters involved in the plot.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ellis Reed is a struggling reporter trying to break the story of his career takes a seemingly harmless picture that leads to unintended consequences. Lilly Palmer is working hard to make her dream of becoming a columnist despite her own personal challenges as well as the challenges that society presents. They both learn a lot about choices and what’s important over the course of the story as they help the Dillard family.

I had high hopes for this one but it was just okay for me. Sold on a Monday takes place in 1931 amidst the Great Depression and Prohibition, the author does a nice job of touching on the important issues during this time in history, such as the proliferation of organized crime, unemployment and underground speakeasies, to name a few. The basis of the story and what happens to the children is tragic and it’s crazy to think that this story came about as a result of an actual photograph that the author had tripped over. Unfortunately, I never really felt engaged with the appalling situation the children were in throughout this novel. I think maybe the story was too focused on Ellis and Lilly and not enough on the children who were the center of these heartbreaking circumstances. The whole novel was quite slow paced with very little action and it seemed like all the troublesome situations that Ellis and Lilly got caught up in were straightened out quickly, conveniently and all too smoothly. It didn’t make for a very interesting story overall.

I want to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

Good and bad things seemed to happen on Mondays for Ellis Reed, but more bad.

The day Ellis was biding time until a scheduled meeting, happened to be the day his career changed, but it also was the day that would change his life and the life of the Dillard family.

Ellis’s story about a family who had their children for sale turned out to be something more than a story. It really happened, and when Ellis found out, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Meanwhile Lily worked at the paper as a secretary and had a part in this story even though she didn’t write the story. Lily had a secret about the story and her personal life that she hoped would never be revealed, but you know how things work with secrets.

Ellis wanted to be successful, but once he was, he still held back because he felt his success was based on the misfortunes of the family he had taken a photo of and had written a story about.

Ellis and Lily worked together once they found out what happened to the Dillard’s after the publication of the story and the sign that said: 2 Children for Sale.

They both felt responsible for the outcome, and it haunted both of them. Neither Lily or Ellis wanted to rest until they found out where the children were and what happened to their mother.

Set during the depression, you can feel the troubles and worries families had and the desperate measures some of them took.

SOLD ON A MONDAY has wonderful, lovable characters. Ms. McMorris marvelously portrayed characters you would want to know. You will be with them in their pain, their indecisions, their decisions, their love for each other, and their feelings.

Ms. McMorris knows how to tell a story and keep you interested. SOLD ON A MONDAY is a beautiful story about caring and compassion.

SOLD ON A MONDAY was absolutely wonderful and heartwarming as well as heartbreaking.

It is a book women’s fiction fans won’t want to miss. 5/5

This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher and NETGALLEY. All opinions are my own.

I received this book "Sold on a Monday" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own.
As they say one decision can change your life and the lives of those around you. I thought this was a great book. I liked the characters and the setting. This book was a page turner for me and I couldn't wait to read each day. I haven't read much historical fiction but I will from now on. Heartbreaking story and you really feel the pain the characters are going through.

I received a free e-copy of Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris from NetGalley for my honest review.

I don't normally read Historical Fiction books, but this one caught my eye. I am so glad it did. What an exceptional read.

Sold on a Monday takes place during the depression in 1931. Ellis, a newspaper reporter for a Philadelphia newspaper, is out taking pictures of the countryside. She stumbles across a heartbreaking scene. Two boys that are being sold by their mother. Lillian, a secretary at the paper turns it into the editor who publishes it. Then things go terribly wrong.

I love how the story is told in third person with the points of view being told by Ellis’s and Lilly’s points of view. This book portrays a realistic view of the depression when people did whatever they had to to survive. This included selling their own children. Children were often sold by their parents in hopes that they could have a better life. A very vivid and heartbreaking read. I highly recommend this book.