When a journalist takes a picture and it gets lost, he finds a way to recreate that picture. What he doesn’t realize at the time, is what that photograph will cost him. The nights of lost sleep and worrying are too much for him and he decides that he needs some answers. Ellis and Lily are characters that I connected with and the cover of the book was what compelled me to read, Sold on a Monday in the first place.

Every now and then along comes a book that is truly a curlup-and-give-into-it type of book, the kind of book that made you fall in love with reading in the first place.  Kristina McMorris has done a fine job of setting the scene, bringing the early days of the Great Depression into focus, with true to life scenes in the  housing situations of her characters, and most particular, the smokily hazed newsrooms when the importance of printed newspapers was king and the publication of an evocative photograph can have far reaching effects.  McMorris reveals she received her inspiration from a photograph in an Indiana paper from 1948, in which a mother shields her face as she stands behind her brood of 4 truly adorable kids, and a sign that they are for sale.  This book is much more effective than one entitled Mary Coin which attempted a fictional account based on the iconic Dorothea Lang portrait of a migrant mother.

The start was hard for me. One unethical action by a reporter named Ellis sets in motion the selling of two children. I was so angry at the reporter that I had to force myself to continue reading. Part of my anger, I think, was that I was not fully in his shoes to understand the desperation he felt before taking this short-cut. For instance, there is one scene in which Ellis is clearly in distress about his decision, yet we view this scene through the viewpoint of fellow reporter Lillian rather than through Ellis’s eyes. This choice by the author removes the reader from his anxiety. And there is anxiety aplenty the author could have drawn on since the novel takes place during the Depression. For a historical novel, there was a certain lack of historical scene setting in the opening. I would have loved to feel myself transported into the countryside and 1930’s tenant farm life as city-boy reporter Ellis wanders in search of that story that will keep him employed for another week.

Fortunately, at about one third of the way through the book (if I had not obligated myself to review this book, I would probably have given up before this point), the characters really come to life and become sympathetic. The author hits her stride and tells a compelling story complete with characterization, conflict, and setting. It also becomes clear that Ellis’s actions that day are just one aspect of the downward trajectory that is these children’s lives. Negligence and even evil come up against the forces of good that Ellis and his friend, intrepid reporter Lillian, embody. Some exciting cloak and dagger stuff ensues, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and which kept me up long past my bedtime to the heart-stopping finish.

Despite an unconvincing start, Sold on a Monday is a book I definitely recommend for those who enjoy reading Depression-era novels of family life and adoption. I especially recommend this book for readers of Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate; both of these books were inspired by true events.

I received an advance copy of Sold on a Monday from Netgalley.

A picture is worth a thousand words!!! There is no better example of this catch phrase than “Sold on a Monday” by Kristina McMorris.
Kristina McMorris wrote a fictional story inspired by an actual newspaper photograph that stunned the nation and it left me speechless after finishing this book…. it took a little while for me to take it all in and process all the emotions this book stirred.

I saw this book in Netgalley and was instantly intrigued by the title and the description. I had to read it right away…. and it did not disappoint!  Though there were a few times, I felt the pace slowed a little too much…. it quickly picked back up each time and I couldn’t put it down during the last half. It touched on so many different aspects of hard times in the depression era and many other issues of that time….. organized crime, women’s rights, child labor, orphanages & adoption, etc.   Ms. McMorris brought the characters and the time period to life. I could see them clearly in my mind and feel the emotions running throughout this book. 

" “2 CHILDREN FOR SALE   --   The sign is a last resort. It sits on a farmhouse porch in 1931, but could be found anywhere in an era of breadlines, bank runs and broken dreams. It could have been written by any mother facing impossible choices. 
For struggling reporter Ellis Reed, the gut-wrenching scene evokes memories of his family’s dark past. He snaps a photograph of the children, not meant for publication. But when it leads to his big break, the consequences are more devastating than he ever imagined.
At the paper, Lillian Palmer is haunted by her role in all that happened. She is far too familiar with the heartbreak of children deemed unwanted. As the bonds of motherhood are tested, she and Ellis must decide how much they are willing to risk to mend a fractured family.”" --

The sequence of events and the resulting consequences of each action were intriguing and kept me turning the pages to the end.  Family and the importance of family bonds are interwoven throughout this heartwarming yet heartbreaking story. Fortunately for these fictional characters… all ends well….. after many twists and turns. 

This was my first book by Kristina McMorris and I look forward to reading more of her writing. Thank you Netgalley for a preview copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Overall very enjoyable read - I think it might've been better suited as a film over a book but I enjoyed it none the less. I expected a bit more literary-ness for this one but it turned out to be more of a page turner. The story and characters were well developed but it took a while for this one to get off the ground and really get moving.

A photograph of 4 children for sale, from a 1948 newspaper is what sparked the story the author has told us. Times were hard and after the Great Depression and the War there were more and more single mothers trying to raise children but unable to keep them fed or clothed. 

Ellis Reed knows hard times and family tragedy. He wants to be a reporter. He wants to make a difference. On the way to a lead on a story he sees two little boys sitting on their porch with a sign saying 2 Children For Sale. He is struck by this and can't get it out of his mind. He develops the picture fully intending to write an entire piece about this but something happens and when he returns to get another photograph, he is told the family got a job and moved.

Across the street the Dillard family is in the same situation. And little Ruby and her brother Calvin let him take their photograph instead.

Lilly Palmer is working at the same newspaper. Lilly has a secret. Where is she going every week-end? She is the one who showed their Chief the picture of the boys and he wanted a story. But substituting another photograph will have consequences that ripple far out and cause their very lives to be in danger.

This is a strong story. Based on real life events, this is a story of loss, desperation,love and family bonds. It was beautifully written and I am better for having read it.

Netgalley/August 28th 2018 by Sourcebooks Landmark

It's not literature, but it was an enjoyable page-turner. Despite being fairly predictable, there were elements to the story that held suspense, with some little twists here and there. I enjoyed it, in that way that someone enjoys stuff like this - like maybe on a long plane ride It would, however, be a lovely film, which I think would give the characters themselves a lot more depth.

I’ve always enjoyed reading historical fiction books about the 1930’s in America: the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, FDR’s New Deal. Kristina McMorris’s Sold on a Monday tells the story of a desperate journalist who makes a snap decision to take a staged picture and the ramifications of his actions on so many people, innocent or not. 
It was a slightly slow start; I thought we were going to dwell on the flirtations between Ellis and Lily. But Lilly became a strong female lead role, which was refreshing. Ellis went through a major transformation after realizing how damaging his zest to succeed could be to others. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the historical accuracy that McMorris strived for. I was surprised to find while reading her acknowledgments where she got the idea for the novel. I could easily see this becoming a movie in the near future.
I plan to read more of McMorris’s work, which she bases on historical events. Thoroughly good reading!
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Landmark for making it available.)

McMorris creates a world that is both familiar and historical at the same time. So often one wonders what it would be like to live “back then.” Sold on a Monday gives a brief answer to those ponderings. The characters, their motivations, and their reactions are tangible and sympathetic. Then, there is also a convincing sense of the 1930s with the fallout from the stock market crash, mobsters, gender roles, and day to day life for different strata of society. The mystery behind the photograph and the journey undertaken by Ellis and Lily to ultimately give the children the home to which they’re entitled keeps a reader engaged through the final chapter. A good read.

Historical fiction at its finest!  Loosely based on a true picture, but relatable to the times after the Depression when families could no longer afford to keep their own children.  This is similar to The Orphan Train with the startling realizations of what did happen to some of those poor, innocent children.  The main characters are easy to fall in love with and root for, the settings of eastern PA, NJ and MY made it more interesting for me since they are my local areas.  I would definitely recommend this book!!!

Sold On a Monday all starts with a real photograph from the Depression era. A mother is so desperate that she puts her children up for sale.



<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gatsbe-Exchange-Children-Bizarre-Depression/dp/B07BR9ZDS9/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&linkCode=li2&tag=redfacesolutions-20&linkId=0a8a7a734d2676f4281b405491285717&language=en_US" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B07BR9ZDS9&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=redfacesolutions-20&language=en_US" ></a><img src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=redfacesolutions-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=B07BR9ZDS9" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />



The story takes this real photograph and spins a story about the lives of those affected by the sale. Reporter Ellis Reed never meant for the photo to get attention. He's seen the pain the Depression and a loss of a child has brought to his family. 



Lillian Palmer spots Ellis's photo and slips it to her boss. When that photo leads to Ellis' big break, she's happy for him, but the results of showing that photo to the world are not something she considered. It puts her own secrets at risk of spilling out.



Now that things are spiraling, Lillian and Ellis opt to work together to unravel what exactly became of the children affected most by the photo.



I had a rough time getting into Sold On a Monday. I liked the characters' roles in the story and the premise, but the actual heart of the story doesn't start until several chapters have passed. I felt a bit lost as to the plot until that turn when the story really kicked off. I never bonded with the characters as I'd expected I would. In the end, I stuck with it, but I already know it won't be a story I remember months or years from now. It's good, but it's not memorable.

This book was wonderful! I loved the character development, the story, and the ending. I started reading....and then the end of the story....I couldn’t stop reading. Please don’t miss this book!

This was a great historical fiction novel. I really enjoyed the premise of the story. This novel was very well written and interesting. I highly recommend!

During a time when almost the entire nation was in dire straits from the Great Depression, many did not have jobs, a place to live or enough food to eat.  This story begins with a picture taken of two young children sitting on a porch with a sign stating they were for sale.  As Ellis Reed, a struggling newspaper reporter sees the children, he can’t help but take their picture.  It somehow makes its way to his Chief, who wants an article to publish in the paper.  Due to various circumstances, he has to obtain another picture immediately for the paper which is the beginning of some terrible circumstances.  As the story progresses, Ellis struggles between his ambition and his need to make things right, no matter the cost.

We also meet Lily Palmer, who is the secretary for the Chief at the newspaper, and who longs to be able to write for the paper.  As a woman in 1931, she is dismissed unless she wants to write for the women’s fashion or other sections.  She lives in a boarding house while also hiding a secret from everyone.

The description of Ellis’s boarding house was so depressing with tiny rooms, thin walls, and numerous people who had nowhere else to live, waiting in long lines for the one bathroom.  Even for those with jobs, it was a difficult time.

This story reminded me of the vulnerability of the extreme poor and those considered less than by many people.  I read the author’s notes on how she saw a photo from the 1940’s with children on a porch and a sign that said they were for sale, which triggered the basis for this book. At first I couldn’t understand why parents were selling their children versus finding someone that could take care of them, but they were starving.  “Even decent, well-meaning people could make poor choices under pressure.”

I enjoyed the story setting of Philadelphia and New York City along with the very rich who could get away with anything, mafia-types, prohibition, and difficult to start crank cars.   Many people bought and sold these children, not as family, but to work almost like slaves with horrible living conditions and treatment.  

Although at times it was slow reading, this is a compelling, well written story that has enough suspense to keep you reading, while also thinking of honor, ethics, society stigma’s and desperation.  It was interesting and horrifying to read about the ‘breaker boys’ that worked in the coal mines before child labor laws were enacted, and the injuries and deaths that occurred.  The story makes me appreciate our modern conveniences and better job opportunities for women.

This story has a subtle romance aspect with Lily, Ellis and another reporter, all whom worked at the newspaper in Philadelphia.  It’s not the main aspect of the story but comes to a satisfying conclusion.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for allowing me the opportunity to read this new work.

A fast paced read centering on a photo and two young journalists. There are consequences when a photo gets published in a newspaper. The rich details of the period made you feel like you were right with our star crossed lovers. If you like historical fiction and bit of intrique and romance, this book is for you. It is also very relavent today when truth in news or fake news is discussed.

I don't like that prologue that starts the book.  I would rather not know where the book was headed.  I started liking the characters and then I started to see where they were headed and I didn't like the choices that they made.  It didn't draw me to find out more like some other books instead I wanted to stop reading.

This story is an agonizing, heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, emotional journey. Kristina McMorris immerses us within a period of history with such precision that I not only understood the desperation of the times, but I experienced it. 

We have two narrating characters, and both are fully developed, step-off-the-pages human beings. Reed is a young man struggling to make it in journalism, while still holding on to his sense of morality. Lily is a young woman pushing ever so slightly but steadily against the boundaries set for women of her time.

McMorris provides just the right amount of details. All those little things that place us in a setting and activate our senses are sprinkled throughout. I felt like I was there - on the dirt roads, in the news office, at the deli - but I never felt the story was bogged down by too much detail. 

The plight of the children is handled exceptionally well. I saw a few reviewers mentioned they wanted more from the kids, but I thought the balance was just right. Their situation is horrifying, and I didn't need to dwell there to feel it. 

The pace is steady, though more of a slow burn. The content has a literary feel, with the focus on getting to know the characters so we understand their motivations and so we care about the outcome.

A couple of dramatic twists occur in the last quarter of the book, adding more layers of realism to a story set in a difficult historical period. This is a story that will stick with me for a long time.

This was a fascinating look at how newspaper publishing in the early 1900s worked. It also offered a glimpse into the desperation felt by people in different circumstances, whether that desperation was because of finances, fear, status, judgement, etc. That common sense of desperation was woven through the entire story, and the author did a wonderful job of showing how happenstance can have lasting effects on many people in so many unforeseen ways.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC for my kindle.
Desperation due to poverty or illness sometimes makes one do things a mother would never think of doing, but there are other circumstances that are part of this story.
Overall, an easy and sweet read.

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.