A bit slow in parts, especially the first third or so, but I enjoyed this historical fiction set in the 1930s. The setting seemed authentic and the author did a good job of portraying the desperation of the times. The characters are well-developed, likable, and realistic. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved reading this book. I was very surprised at the end to realise that it was based on an actual.picture from a newspaper!

This was one of my favorite summer adult reads. The historical novel follows newspaper reporters Ellis and Lillian during the great depression. A photo Ellis shoots changes the arc of his career while causing more trouble than he bargained for. Lillian is a secretary with a few by-lines on "women's" stories. She wants to be taken seriously as a reporter but can't seem to conquer her past. When Ellis and Lillian try to reunite the family from the photographs, danger ensues. The plot was fast-paced and intriguing. If you liked "Girl Waits With a Gun," you'll like this book.

I enjoyed Sold on a Monday especially the bits around photography and the lengths a photographer will go to get just the right shot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ellis Reed takes a photograph of siblings sitting on the front porch of a farmhouse with a sign reading "2 children for sale
From here we are taken to what life was like during The Depression. How desperate were these families that they would consider selling their children in hopes that their children would have better lives..
A single photo showcased in newspapers all over the country results in a upheaval of the lives of one family and the photographer that took the picture.

Overall this is a very captivating book although there is a very slow moving section near the beginning that almost had me putting aside the story. Glad I stuck with it because it really is a very moving depiction of a very destitute time in our history.

This is an exceptional story. It captures your heart from the beginning, that someone would consider selling children and even more so because their straits were so dire as to give them no choice. Struggling newspaperman, Ellis Reed, takes a picture of a scene that strikes a chord with a past of which he hasn't made peace.

Returning to his job he turns in the picture but continues to struggle with his assignments; then Lily Palmer, a single Mom, who has kept it a secret because of the stigma for an unmarried woman and because she was afraid she wouldn't land the job with her boss discovers the picture.

Lily brings it to the attention of her boss who wants Ellis to write a story. He excitedly tackles the job but then discovers the picture has been accidently destroyed. Ellis strikes out to find the boys in the picture again but now they are gone but two other children are there so he poses them with the sign he at retrieved from the original site. His article appeals to the general public and donations for the family beginning pouring in and Ellis, guiltily and secretly deposits them at the family's home.

Lily, in the meantime, wants to become a columnist herself; but her boss doesn't think women capable. She continues to work toward finding opportunities to change his mind. In the meantime, she and Ellis begin a fragile friendship at the same time another reporter vies for her attentions and things slowly become complicated.

Finally, both Ellis and Lily are drawn into corrected the mistakes suffered by the children caused by the false picture. These children had been inadvertently sold because the picture had led the wrong people to them.

This is a fascinating story drawn from photos and suffering during the depression and War time periods of our country's history. With a little romance and suspense thrown in, you will find a story that tugs at your heart strings and makes it hard to put the book down. Five star recommendation. Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read this book through Netgalley.

After trying several times I just could not get into reading this novel. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. I wish I had been able to finish.

Princess Fuzzypants here: The volume of stories about how the Great Depression sundered families and shred them to pieces. An ambitious reporter, waiting for his chance to break into the big leagues, snaps a shot of children beside a sign that says “Children for Sale”. His picture ends up on the newspaper editor’s desk and he is told to write the copy to go with it. Just before publication, someone destroys the original pictures. When he returns to take another one, the family is no longer there. Out of desperation he photographs a neighbours family and puts the sign in the picture. Little does he know he has set off a series of events that will change lives, including his own.
The story follows Ellis and Lilly, the person who showed the picture to the editor, on their quest to discover what happened to the children. It is a compelling story of lies and truths, cruelty and love and in the end, redemption. The reader becomes engrossed in the sad story and roots for Ellis and LIlly to make right what the travesties they set in motion.. We want what they want. We want the children to be reunited and saved from terrible fates.
It was hard to put down. THe story had me by the throat. It is intense.
I give it five purrs and two paws up.

Fascinating story of how one photo or one story can change the course of people’s lives. A newspaper reporter posts a picture of children for sale who ultimately were not. They end up being sold to families. It’s an amazing story, well written, and well told. I would definitely recommend this one.

It’s 1931 in America in the era of the Depression. Journalist Ellis Reed wants to advance his career and is pigeon-holed into writing a story to accompany a photo he took of two children next to a sign: 2 Children for Sale. Ellis didn’t create the sign and he speculates on what would make a person sell their children. It seems so desperate. His original photo negative is ruined and he resets the scene in the same neighborhood, but with different children. He pays the mother for the photo and his story runs.
Ellis gains notoriety from this photo and his career takes a dark turn as he moves to the city. He makes friends with the Mob and turns in interesting stories. However, this way of living is not true to his roots. And, the staged photo continues to plague him.
He is tasked with writing a follow-up to the original “for sale” story. What he finds shakes his earth. With the help of friend and fellow writer Lillian Palmer, Ellis traces the story of the two children in his staged photo.
It’s a story of the desperation of the 1930s and it’s also a story of growing-up for Ellis.

A reporter makes a choice that changes his career and threatens the livelihood of a family. When he decides to reverse his decision, he’ll need to use all of his skills to make things right again for all involved. Author Kristina McMorris transports readers to the depths of the Depression and makes 1930s New York City and Philadelphia come alive in her excellent novel Sold on A Monday.

Reporter Ellis Reed is sick of his job. He always imagined he’d become a journalist and chase down hot leads on the most pressing stories of the day. Instead he’s filing stories for the Society page of the Philadelphia Examiner; who wants a byline on pieces that should be written by women?

Ellis gives up a Sunday afternoon to cover a quilting bee and comes across a sight that makes him stop in his tracks. He sees a pair of kids on a dilapidated front porch, and above them hangs a sign that reads “Two children for sale.” The sign, Ellis knows, provides tangible evidence of the times.

It’s 1931, and the country is in a Depression the likes of which no one has ever seen. His heart aches for the family, and he takes a picture. He doesn’t even know yet what he’ll do with it, just that he wants to capture the image.

Back at the paper, Lily Palmer, secretary to the editor-in-chief, sees Ellis’s photo. It makes her mourn for the circumstances of the parents who have to make the choice to sell their children. Between Lily and Ellis, the photo ends up on the editor’s desk. The editor gives Ellis the chance he’s wanted all along: to write a real feature story. Within weeks Ellis’s story and photo get picked up by news outlets all over the country.

Ellis is thrilled with the success and the subsequent job offer that comes from a bigger paper in New York City. When he moves from Philly to NYC, he carries his belongings and a secret: he took the photo, yes, but he manipulated it. As he struggles to maintain the initial potential shown by that photo, he finds himself going down some dubious routes to impress his new boss.

Lily comes to New York to visit and stops in to drop off some of the fan mail that still arrives in Philadelphia for Ellis. The two receive news about the children in the photo and decide to find out what happened to them; when they do, the news isn’t good. As they work together and retrace the steps the children took, Ellis and Lily will have to learn to trust one another every step of the way if they’re going to make amends with everyone involved.

Author Kristina McMorris evokes the Depression era with some well-placed mentions of historical facts and events of those years. While she spends a great deal of time on the developing relationship between Ellis and Lily, McMorris also touches on other issues such as unwed mothers, parent guilt, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and the Mob. Some readers might consider McMorris’s treatment of these topics sanitized, but by avoiding the temptation to dig into salacious details McMorris is free to deal with the story at hand.

McMorris handles Ellis’s guilt with ease. She makes his struggle believable, and the fact that Lily must also struggle with her own issues while trying to help Ellis and maintain a proper distance from him will offer enough conflict to make readers happy. Additional subplots with Ellis’s father and a secret that Lily hides from everyone at work round out the story in a three-dimensional way.

The resolution might come across as a little pat, and starting the story with the end seems like an unnecessary device to pique readers’ interest. These minor matters aside, McMorris offers an enjoyable, satisfying book. I recommend readers Bookmark Sold on a Monday.

This book had me at the start, reading the description. I recall the old photo that prompted the writing if this by the author.
The characters in the book were really relatable, and it was well written. The story line and the authors twist on the old picture was certainly captivating.
It was difficult to put down. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

I know this is likely to be an unpopular opinion but this was not my favourite Kristina McMorris book. I read another review that said she'd been expecting one sort of novel and got something quite different and that's the way I felt also.

From the title, cover image and Ellis' taking of the photo I was expecting the plot to follow the lives of the children and perhaps to follow the thread of the period and the great poverty endured by so many during the Great Depression. However, the novel followed Ellis through his career and the impact the photograph had on him. Though fascinating, I was expecting something different and I didn't really warm to Ellis.

I felt a little closer to Lillian and her situation. There was love apparent for her child and her parents that shone through. Lillian and Ellis' relationship was so stilted that they never really meshed well for me and it didn't add much to the plot. In the end I was satisfied with the wrap up between them as well as somewhat pleased with the outcome for the children.

I can't fault the writing and would not hesitate to read another book by the author as I've been engrossed by more than one of her other books.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for our review copy. All opinions are our own.

I always enjoy Kristina McMorris' novels. She manages to transport me to another time and place each time I read one of them. This time, she took me to Philadelphia (and New York) in the early 1930's for a captivating story that has stuck with me ever since I turned the last page.

Kristina really knows how to write historical fiction and both characters and settings are easy to visualize. I could even hear the characters' voices in my head. The newspaper aspect reminded me of Newsies because of the female reporter who reminded me of the one in the stage musical. I loved all the connections between the characters and watching them interact.

At the beginning, I wasn't sure where the story was going and it took a little while to get to the action. However, the build-up was still interesting and I love when the plot took off and what Ellis and Lily did as a result.

Another excellent story by Kristina. I still need to go back and read Bridge of Scarlet Leaves and hope to do so before her next novel is published.

Movie casting suggestions:
Lily: Mary Mouser
Ellis: Noah Centineo
Geraldine: Sarah Ramos
Clayton: Colin Woodell

This book and the premise will haunt you. I was fascinated that this story came about as a response to an actual photograph taken by a newspaper writer that stuck with the author. I read this entire book in one whole day.

Kristina McMorris never fails to deliver emotionally gripping, thought-provoking stories based upon actual historical events. Her latest book, Sold on a Monday, was inspired by a 1948 photo that appeared in a newspaper of a mother and her 4 children who were sitting next to a sign that read "4 children for sale; inquire within." That photo inspired McMorris, herself a mother, to ponder just how desperate a woman would have to be in order to offer her children up for sale.

In the book, a similar sign, "2 children for sale," is seen on a farmhouse porch in 1931 by a reporter. He snaps a photo, never intending for it to be published. However, through the intervention of a well-meaning coworker, it is published. And the sensational newspaper story provides the big break that Ellis Reed has been hoping for. He moves up in the world of journalism, but cannot forget the children he saw that day or their mother. America is in the throes of the Great Depression. Just two years earlier, the stock market crash brought runs on banks, unemployment, suicides, and desperation to a once-prosperous nation. Ellis is haunted by his own past, as well as what the publication of his photo may have done to an innocent family.

Lillian Palmer played a role in what transpired. She contends with her own past -- the choices she made, the secrets she keeps. It falls to her and Ellis to learn what really happened to the children in that photo -- and whether they have the strength of character and resilience to do what is right.

From the very first page, McMorris transports readers back to the grim realities of Depression-era America. Employing her signature style, she utilizes events and the circumstances in which her characters find themselves to challenge readers to ponder what they would do if presented with similar obstacles. Sold on a Monday is nothing less than a morality play about choices made, the consequences thereof, and the human need for redemption. McMorris is a master at breaking readers' hearts and Sold on a Monday is no exception. However, she is also adept at crafting moral dilemmas that test the very fiber of her characters, who often rise to the occasion.
Sold on a Monday takes readers on just such a journey from despair to forgiveness and new beginnings. It has rightly been called "a masterpiece" and "stunningly moving." The praise is deserved. McMorris again delivers a poignant, moving story that will resonate and remain with readers long after they finish reading the last page,

Sold on a Monday is the first book I have read by Kristina McMorris. It was a serious story of hard times during the American Great Depression. Today we cannot even begin to imagine the desperation you are going through to have to sell your children to be able to live and give them a better life. This is a fantastic story that pulls you in and keeps you reading to the end. I highly recommend this book! You won't be disappointed!

Sad story. I'm glad I was around during the Depression. I remember hearing about stories like this from older family members. It a well-written story that will pull the reader right into it. I know many children were sent to orphanages, or to live with family members on farms (had some of those in my own family) during the hard times. Some children never saw their folks again and children were sometimes lost in the system. It's nice to think that with DNA testing, some may now be united with long lost family, brothers and sisters at least,

Sold on a Monday wasn't a typical read for me, however, the cover of the book spoke to me. This little boy drew me to this book, and I am thankful he did. Kristina McMorris takes you on a journey back in time when families struggled everyday to figure out how to feed their children during the depression. Families were forced to make choices even if they were the best of ones, if they meant their children may have a better life.

One picture.
One sign.
One mother
One reporter.
One article.
Two children.

One picture, one article changed two kids lives, and left a mother regretting her decision. But what started out as a picture, turned into so much more, especially when the article published wasn't properly representing this family.

Sold on a Monday was a FABULOUS read. I enjoyed the storyline, I loved being thrown back into the past and was able to see things in a different light. Things aren't always how they appear, and after reading the Author's note, I am happy that these two children were able to live a different life, than the ones that experienced a true version of this story.

The Depression is a time in history that is as fascinating as it is appalling. It's hard for me to understand it and how people were forced to live. Mobsters and prohibition make it mysterious and beckon the reader forward. Yet for most who lived during the Depression, it was a time simply of surviving in any possible way. And too many mouths to feed sometimes meant that children were given away for adoption, or in the case of this story, sold.

I loved these characters. Ellis and Lily. Sylvia, Ruby and Calvin. The writing is detailed and vivid. The rush of the newsroom; Ellis' surprise and fear when he discovers his photo is going to be published; Lily's desperate need to keep her secrets; the house where the children are playing when Ellis arrives, and so much more.

Kristina McMorris has an innate ability to capture the intimacy of any given setting and situation and the story moves quickly, weaving your emotions in and out of the character's own.

I could not read this book fast enough. To call it compelling is a vast understatement. Compulsory or irresistible is a better description.