The beginning of the book starts with “it all started with a picture”. That in itself got me, throughout the whole book I had that quote in mind but never did expect what would actually transpire. Ellis Reed is a reporter who is struggling to make it big. He doesn’t have much going for him in the way of career or romance but all that changes with, you guessed it, a picture he takes of two kids with a sign that says “children for sale” in the background. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone since I went into this book with a vague idea of what I was getting myself into and I feel like I enjoyed it that much more because of it. Suffice to say that this was a heartbreaking story and a must read for anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

Disclaimer: This was provided as a free ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book certainly was a fun read. Although there were a number of 'improbables' that occurred I still really enjoyed the story and the points the author seemed to be trying to make - or at least points I thought were important. Set during the Big Depression with young men and women trying to become something and others just hoping to survive, the stage was set for some interesting times. The author did a very good job of weaving a tale that allowed all of the characters to intersect.

Confession - I jumped at the chance to read this book based solely on my absolute love for the author's work, particularly The Edge of Lost, which swept me away. I can safely say that Sold on a Monday did not disappoint.

Inspired by a real photograph, the author dives into one truly heartbreaking part of the Great Depression as she creates a story behind the photograph of two small children, shown with a sign for sale. Photographer Ellis Reed is no saint; struggling to get by and move up, he takes a photo and then makes a decision that will haunt him. He is truly flawed, struggling to prove himself to his father and to get ahead, and that is what makes him such a fascinating character for me. He's not bad, but desperation makes people do things they otherwise wouldn't, and some problems take on a life of their own.

Likewise, Lillian Palmer, a secretary at the newspaper that publishes Ellis' photo gets caught up in the drama as he tries to set things right. Her own story is complicated and fascinating, with secrets of her own.

This book offers a little of everything - beautiful prose, a gripping story, a little romance, drama, tension, and an unexpected twist or two.

Fans of historical fiction, this one is for you.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a fictional story based on a situation that faced countless families during the Great Depression where desperation and survival led parents to do anything to save their children. A young reporter takes a shot of two ragged children and a sign that says - children for sale. When the photo becomes famous, which he did not intend to happen, the children are caught in a horrible situation that leads to their being farmed out to two different families. Ellis, the reporter, and Lilly, a secretary and wannabee reporter, will then do anything it takes to recover the children and return them to their mother. Wonderful and heartbreaking, this story will stay with you for a long time. Be sure and read the author's note when you finish to get the background on the photo. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

This book looked like it would be right up my alley so I expected to fall in love with it. I'm not exactly sure where it went wrong for me or why I am not able to be as exited about it as so many other people are. It just felt a bit bland to me. I do love historical fiction, especially stories set around the time of the great depression. This novel delivers that, but I was hoping it would dive more deeply into the ways struggling families lived and survived in such poverty stricken times and less about the personal lives of the photographer and secretary.
3 out of 5 stars

Photography is the art of observation.
Little to do with what you see everything with way you see.

After market crashed in '29, children were sent to relatives, orphanages, or dropped off at churches.
Parents were in desperate situations. Before anyone should judge, they should try to relate and understand.
Reading this book, will give you a story that will captivate you.

A picture is taken
beginning of a journey

1 choice is a link in whole chain of events.

"Sold on a Monday" transports you back to the Great Depression and takes you on a journey that starts when a struggling Philadelphia reporter sees two children on a porch in front of "kids for sale" sign and snaps a picture. From that simple click of the camera, lives as changed forever - when an editor sees the picture and asks for the story behind the photo wheels are put into motion that are difficult to stop. Along the way you are drawn into the stories of the struggling reporter and the ethics & conscience he experience with the choices he makes; the newspaper secretary with dreams of being a journalist while also raising the son that she has "hidden" from her Philly existence; a widow struggling with her health while raising 2 young children; a banker trying to bring his wife back from the abyss after the tragic death of their young daughter; a New York mobster and glimpses of the NY underworld and more.

Reading the description of the photo that Ellis captures on a Sunday afternoon to set this story in motion, I immediately through of the Depression era images of mothers and children captured by Dorthea Lange.

Kristina McMorris does a masterful job of building characters and a construct against the backdrop of the Great Depression and delivers a compelling story that has you engaged to the final pages to see how it resolves and who is able to find happiness. This was my first book by this author and I will definitely look to read more from her.

An e-ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is available on August 28th.

I really loved this book! Romance, mystery, unexpected twists, and a happily ever after ending...couldn't ask for much more. The author did a fabulous job of putting the reader smack dab in the middle of the adventure. There were times I thought I would cry but just couldn't be bothered to put the book down. Highly recommended and would love to read more of Kristina McMorris' work!

Thank you to Net Galley and the author for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

This was a heartbreaking story. Ellis sets out to find a headline for a story for the newspaper, and the picture he takes ends up leading him down a path that he wasn't prepared for. With the help of his friend Lily, he is able to help a family piece themselves back together after a heart wrenching time apart.

I read this amazing book in one long evening as I couldn't put it down. It all starts with a picture of 2 young boys with a sign children for sale. It's 1931 and times are very tough and families are struggling just to have food to eat. The story is told by 2 points of view, Ellis the reporter who took the picture and Lilly who is a single mom. This story shows the desperation of the great depression and the lengths the families had to go to survive. This book was very heartbreaking and I cried many times while reading it. On a personal level, I remember stories of this time period from my Grandfather. His oldest sister was given to an aunt because they just couldn't afford to feed the family of 9 children. This book and it's characters will stay with me for a very long time. I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark. All opinions are my own.

Kristina McMorris has done what many people likely have thought about...putting to paper the story they imagined about something they stumbled across. In this instance, a thought-provoking photograph is the basis for McMorris' novel about a photo that at once launches and derails Ellis Reed' s career as a reporter. His co-worker, Lily Palmer yearns to become a reporter while hiding her status as a single mother. Her innocent attempt to help Ellis by bringing one of his photos to the attention of the chief of the newspaper leads to some devastating consequences for the subjects of the photo. Ellis and Lily race to rectify the situation while learning more about each other and themselves. The tale is believable and the characters well-developed. McMorris makes the reader question what she would do every step of the way. Definitely engaging and worth the time, this is a novel I highly recommend.

I really liked the characters in this book - they were a bit hard to figure out - just like happens in real life when you meet new people and begin to build a relationship. However, I struggled a bit with the story. The premise was great and had me wanting to read more but as the tale progressed I found parts a bit harder to believe. So, if you can leave behind reality for a bit, and just settle in for story telling time, you really enjoy the ride. The writing is strong and flows well, you'll find yourself conflicted at times in terms of who to root and it will keep you reading. This is a book I would have definitely appreciated a 10 point scale rather than just 5 to choose from!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this early release in exchange for an honest review.

I am surprised I liked this book as much as I did! I normally don’t really like to read books set back in time, but I really liked this book. I also usually prefer books that are lighter or psychological thrillers, so again since this book is neither. I think this writer was great with imagery, I could really picture what she was writing happening, and I felt like I could connect with the characters. I would definitely recommend this book!

3.75 Stars

”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.

I remember when I was really young, too young to understand what I’d been told, that the woman who had been visiting my grandparents wasn’t really my father’s sister, and her daughter wasn’t really my cousin, but she had come to live with them when her parents were too poor to afford food during this the 1930s. I don’t know the ins and outs of this, and I really only found out because my mother wanted to make sure I didn’t think that we were related. When I found out that my grandparents took them in, it made no sense to me. My grandparents were poor, so I didn’t understand why they would take in another mouth to feed, but they did. This was the reason I decided that I wanted to read 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.



Pub Date: 28 AUG 2018

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Sourcebooks Landmark

If you were captivated by Lisa WIngate's, Before We Were Yours....this one 's for you! Against the backdrop of our country's great depression, a struggling news reporter captures a photo that illustrates the desperation and devastation of the times. Reporter Ellis Reed has no idea this photo of two brothers playing in the dirt, next to a sign that reads "children for sale', will launch his career and start a devastating domino effect of events. Lily Palmer, secretary to the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, unwittingly plays a role in the destruction of a young family. Ellis' conscience urges him to follow up on the family and discovers his career success cost the family dearly. Lily and Ellis, for their own separate reasons, join together to rescue the family. Ellis and Lily were flawed characters, but ultimately people you want to root for and cheer on. This book was set an era that I don't normally read about, so it was illuminating and informative. The author's descriptive language put me in the middle of the newsroom and brought a vivid image of all the characters to mind. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to book clubs. Definitely read the author's notes - but NOT until you have finished the book. The image and story that fueled her novel is fascinating, heartbreaking and not to missed - much like her novel.

The year is 1931 and the country is in the midst of the Depression. Men are scrambling to find jobs and mothers are trying to feed their children. A young newspaper reporter, trying to get his big break, is out in the country near his home taking pictures when he sees two young boys playing and a sign on the house that says "2 Children for Sale". He takes a picture, wishes he could help and then leaves to go back to this job.

Ellis Reed is the reporter and the picture of the two children provide him with his first big break as a reporter. He makes an error in judgement that can't be changed and has to live with the immediate consequences of his actions. As he tries to right his wrong, he is helped by Lillian Palmer, a secretary at the newspaper who has secrets of her own.

The characters in this novel are so well written that the reader is able to identify with them in their quest to make things right again. Even though the idea of selling children is repulsive to us, the author does such a fantastic job of describing what it was like during the Depression that we begin to understand the desperation that drove parents to sell their children and hopefully give them a better life. This is a book that will make you sad but will keep you turning pages to find out if love and family win.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I'm a big fan of historical fiction, so I was excited to read this book. It was both heartbreaking and wonderful at the same time. I read this book in two days, it was that good. Tugs at the heartstrings, but you can't put it down. I loved it.

This is a novel inspired by a real photograph or maybe a strategically staged photograph highlighting the poverty and privation that might result in the mother putting up her own children for sale. Inexplicably the cover of the novel doesn’t feature that or similar image, but it does try to present the horrible circumstances of the Depression Era that led to devastating, impossible choices. Plus set right in and outside of the City of Brotherly Something, before it turned into the sh*tshow it is presently. So the subject matter is good, the execution is another thing altogether. The writing is strictly women’s lit, which is to say a more serious version of chicklit. Perfectly readable, but consistently plain as plain can be, every sentence and nearly every action is the most obvious choice, almost all of the characters are too good to be properly dimensional, all intentions are overexplained and the main motivations are as noble and pure as fiction demands. In other words, easy reading (despite the subject matter) and wrapped up all so neatly and adorably in the end, it’s a surprise it doesn’t come with a bow. Emotional manipulation can be tolerated when the story is worth it, but this was just decidedly mediocre with nearly strategic lachrymose moments inserted throughout. A Lifetime movie of a book, the sort that never even considers challenging the reader. Read quickly enough, for what it’s worth, provided a mild diversion, but never really lived up to what it might have been given the gravity of the premise. Thanks Netgalley.

A story that transports us back in time that as years pass by is a reminder of what was. Newspapers were the way to get news and Reed , a reporter who is swept up in the circumstances, is up to the challenge of reporting a story that might not be so true.

An excellent offering from Kristina McMorris. I debated between 4 and 5 stars. Sadly, four stars won out in the end because the book's ending was somewhat predictable. Nevertheless this is a beautifully crafted period piece that deserves lots of attention. "Sold on a Monday" will soften the hardest of hearts. It combines love, intrigue, the 1930s, gangsters, and loss into a terrific story.

Buy this book!