I really enjoyed Sold on a Monday even though it wasn't at all what I was expecting! The book cover and the description made me think it would be about the two children photographed by a newspaper journalist during the Great Depression. However, while the story involves the children, the focus is much more on the journalist, Ellis Reed, and his coworker, Lily Palmer, and how they seek to unravel the truth about what happened to the children. Kristina McMorris was inspired to write this historical fiction by a newspaper article featuring children in a photograph near a sign that read "Children for Sale." I enjoyed reading McMorris's account at the end of the book about how this inspired her and would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good historical fiction.

I hesitated to read this book because of the subject matter. I'm not a fan of Depression Era stories but this book is so much more than a description of the what and why of that time. Kristina McMorris saw a photo taken in 1948 that showed four children sitting on the front steps along with a sign "4 children for sale inquire within." She has written a compelling story to go along with that picture. The book is easily read and populated with interesting characters. There's something for everyone in this book: mystery, missing children, family drama and protagonists with a strong desire to do the right thing in spite of the possible consequences. I'm still thinking about this book after finishing it several days ago. That makes it a winner in my estimation.

My Review: 4.5 stars

Sold on a Monday transported me into the desperate days of the Great Depression in this heart-breaking and beautiful story. It explores what would lead a mother to sell her children, the why behind it and the ripple effect that follows. The emotional charge of this book really propelled the story line. I didn’t just want to know what happened, I needed to know what happened. I’m a fan of all of McMorris’ novels such as The Pieces We Keep and The Edge Of Lost. I loved watching the two main characters, Ellis & Lily, work together despite the odds stacked against them.

This author can expertly spin a story, while creating fully realized characters. I loved watching the two main characters, Ellis & Lily, work together despite the odds stacked against them. This is a story that sets you inside the plot and shows rather than tells.

Learning that this novel was actually based on a photo that read “4 Children for Sale” added an extra layer of interest based on factual history. (Photo attached below) This book demonstrates how one choice, no matter how big or small, can have consequences long into the future. It also questions the reader whether or not you can you right a wrong that has spiraled outside of your control. Book Clubs will devour this one.

I am easily intrigued reading about things that happened during the Great Depression era, whether it be fiction or non-fiction, which is why I requested for this book. For me, it gave me a similar feeling to the book Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate and I’m not sure why. It starts out a little slow and then it eventually picks up. I really enjoyed the characters and the plot itself. I give it a 4/5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

At the start of the Great Depression, two sympathetic and flawed aspiring journalists are faced with trying to fix their mistakes while reuniting two children separated from their mother. McMorris provides just enough details about the time period and the settings (mostly Philadelphia and New York) to satisfy the urge to learn for historical novel readers and enough family angst for readers of character-driven books. McMorris explains at the end that the impetus for the story was a real photograph she saw in an old newspaper. The picture in the book stays at the center of the book as Ellis and Lily race against time in their jobs, their family life and for the children.
Recommend this book to Fiona Davis readers and readers of Suzanne Rindell's The Other Typist.

I can absolutely see why publishers and marketers are targeting this as the next best book club read. It has all of the value, heart, sadness, guilt, redemption, and mystery of a great historical fiction drama set over the backdrop of the Great Depression and understanding the devastation of family's due to finances in which it would be possible that a mother would sell her children to be able to eat.

Based on some historical facts (that you find out at the end) make it a debatable topic. How could anyone? Well we will never know because we never experienced this kind of devastation. How do pictures speak a thousand words? One picture at a time. Think of all the greats in history.

This book was very well written and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I give this book 5 stars. Provided to me through NetGalley. Thank You!

What a heart wrenching novel that takes place during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. It all started with a picture-journalist Ellis Reed runs across a family who have a sign in their yard that states “children for sale.” Using the newspapers camera Ellis snaps a photo. Newspaper secretary Lily Palmer stumbles across the the photo in the darkroom and puts it among other photos the chief will soon see. It is then that Ellis is presented with the chance to write a story on this family. However, the original photo is accidentally destroyed and Ellis sets out to see the family again and capture another photo which involves having to pay for a second photo.

Through twists and turns, the truth comes out about the selling of the children, the Mom who loved them and the ones who bought them. Are the children better off? Are they being properly cared for? Are they loved as much as their Mom loved them?

Secrets abound in this book of hiding the joy of being a mother, the horrid loss of a child and the true stories they bring these events to life.

Sold on a Monday is a poignant look into some of the truths of the Depression. At the same time, it shows a man's journey and introspection into his chosen profession. It starts with a photo taken on a whim. Someone shows the editor, and he loves the story and the narrative going with it. Unfortunately, the photo is ruined, and the photographer has to recreate it, but the original subjects are nowhere to be found. He finds a neighbor willing to let her kids pose for a small fee. The article runs, lots of attention, promotion and bigger, better job for the author of the article. The journalist starts to lose his way and follow the money instead of the people behind the stories and his integrity. Things start to fall apart when the journalist tries to follow up on the story and learn what has happened in the wake of his photo. None of it was intentional when the story first ran. Now, the journalist and his friend, the editor's assistant, embark on a journey to right the wrongs that followed the publication of the article. Can they do it in time? Should they step in and do it? All the while, they both grow closer than either had intended and this becomes a journey of self-discovery for them.

This was one of the most heartwarming and heartbreaking books I have ever read! It gave me all the feels!

The blurb broke my heart knowing children were being sold off. It's a very compassionate novel and once I find the right words, I will come back and edit my review.

Absolutely captivating book. Truly gives the picture of life in the depression, not just for the destitute but for those employed and still struggling to survive. The stories woven in under the main theme were so well done. The book just flows beautifully and is hard to put down. Hardship and love and honesty and kindness are written into every page. Recommended reading for anyone who loves a story that will capture your heart.

This was my first Kristina McMorris book but I know it will not be the last. I am really looking forward to reading other books she has written. Sold on a Monday had a great mix of true historical facts and a fictional story. When I first started the book it was a little slow as the characters of Ellis and Lily are introduced and developed but around halfway through the book I found the pace quicken and I could not put it down. The slow pace at the beginning helped me envision what it was like to live in the post-depression. Could a parent really sell a child? It is so hard to imagine feeling like that would be the best decision. Take time to read the Author's Note at the end of the book about the inspiration and research for the story.

It was great to take a step back from the current social media and back into the print media. I was surprised to feel a lot of the same characteristics that we see today with our media. Maybe not as quick and at your fingertips but the stories that were printed in the papers were automatically believed to be true even if they were not. You could spread rumors about a person without Facebook.

I also found other aspects interesting. Were laws always fair and followed? No. Were men and women viewed equally. No. The way Kristina McMorris told the story really created a heartbreaking yet wonderful book to enjoy. Thank you Net Galley for an copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The first part of this book moves slowly. There’s much to set up in this heart wrenching story. A picture is ruined and as the photographer innocently attempts to recreate it, he changes the lives of all those involved. After he discovers the outcome of his photo, Ellis’s Reed attempts to fix things. This is a time shortly after the Great Depression where food, jobs, and money were scarce. We get to know Ellis and Lily quite well but I think more depth is needed in the characters of the children. They are a key part of this story. The last third of the book moves quickly and is enjoyable. As a whole, the book is worth the read. When you read it, hang on, it gets better.

The story was long and seemed to drag on for me. Set in the depression era .. Heartbreaking but it makes you appreciate not being born in that time era. Was a good novel but not one I’d read again. Just not my genre I guess.

”And how I wish that love
Was all we'd need to live
What a life we'd have
'Cause I've got so much to give
But ya' know I feel so sad
Down inside my heart
That the dollar sign
Should be keepin' us apart

“But you know that I love you
You know that I love you
Oh, how I love you”
--But You Know I Love You,Alison Krauss, Songwriters: Mike Settle

”Then 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. And yet, as if through a lens, I suddenly viewed the past year with astounding clarity, saw the interwoven paths that had delivered each of us here. Every step a domino essential to knocking over the next.
With no small amount of regret, I nodded at him slowly, remembering as I replied.
‘It started with a picture.’”

Imagine having no home. No income. No hope. And as far as you can see, those around you are either in the same boat, or on their way there, struggling to hold onto what little they have that they can claim as theirs. Imagine hearing your children cry every night because there isn’t enough food for them, their threadbare, ratty clothes no longer fit because there is no money for new clothes and there hasn’t been in too long to remember. No one has any money. You can’t, really picture this unless you’ve lived through it, I suppose. Endless desperation with no reason for hope.

Set in 1931, it’s August in Laurel Township, Pennsylvania when Ellis Reed first sees the two boys, no shoes, no shirts, pitching pebbles at tin cans in their overalls. He’d taken his camera along for scenic shots, but the eyes of the boys drew him in. Icy blue. As he focuses on the boys, a sign made from a wooden slat, the edges all jagged, comes into focus as well.

2 children for Sale

Ellis’s was responsible for providing readers with the latest “fluff” for the Society page of the Philadelphia Examiner. It wasn’t what he wanted to do, but it was what he did, so he was always hoping, looking for that something to prove he could cover the big stories, to get his big chance. Even though he had used the paper’s camera to take the shot, he took it more for the story it told, a story without words, never intending another to see it.

Lillian Palmer also works at the same newspaper, as a secretary, although she has aspirations of becoming a writer. Lillian sees the photograph Ellis has taken and convinces him to turn it in for the newspaper. An accident occurs with the original photograph, and he’s forced to reshoot the scene with Ruby and Calvin. What follows once it is published is the heart and soul of this story.

This is a story of desperation born of the circumstances of the Great Depression. One of the many ways that era left lifelong emotional scars on those most affected. This is less about the era than it is about the way it affected this one family, and the people who came to their aide when needed.

There is a little romance in this story, but this story is really about what people can be driven to in times of desperation, the values to which we hold ourselves, and the need to rectify wrongs.

The haunting tale of Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris will make you cry and lose sleep.
In the depression some families had to sell their children. One photographer made a tragic mistake by taking a photograph of 2 children with a 4 sale sign as a storyline.
It is with great grit, courage, resolve and the help of a good woman that this ends well.
But, oh, it will break your heart in the reading of it.
Five stars

This is a moving story that takes the reader on quite a journey. I expected it to be about the lives and poverty of the children and their families. It was. I expected it to hurt my mom-heart. It did. It was also about the lives of Lily and Ellis, their jobs at the newspapers and their endeavors to fix a wrong. We see their work struggles, family struggles...and even struggles with the mob and law. I thought the story was almost over when I was halfway through—but it wasn’t. One event after another continued to unfold. I thought Lily and Ellis did some stupid things—but they were right to keep digging. The ending wrapped up beautifully.
Advanced reader copy courtesy of the publishers at NetGalley for review.

Now this is the type of historical fiction I like to read! This was an emotional and heart tugging read. Inspired and based off a true picture of children for sale in the 1930s, this author takes the mom and kids from the picture and creates her own story for them. Why would a mom sell her kids? Was it real or faked? Told in alternating views from reporters Ellis and Lilly you learn why each, for different reasons, feel a connection to these kids and their mom. I gave it four stars because the book is broken into three different parts. I found the first part to be bland and slow to get to the real heart of the story. Once I got to part two I really enjoyed it. After I finished and read the authors note I did some reading on the true life story. So heartbreaking. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

Sold On Monday is a historical fiction story which is inspired by an actual photo of a mother attempting to sell her children. It is set during the Great Depression. It is about Ellis, a reporter and photographer, who writes a story with a picture that has far reaching consequences for many. Ellis and Lily, the chief editor’s secretary, work together to rectify the problems caused. I enjoyed this book and was wanting to know how they solve the problems that have occurred.

Interesting idea, but the writing and romantic storyline were predictable and mundane. Readers who like historical romances will enjoy the book more than I did.