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.

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris is the first book I have read by this author and I’m thrilled I took a chance on something new. It is a stunning tale that begins in 1931 during The Great Depression. The main character, Ellis, is a fledgling journalist looking for his big break. He’s tired of the mundane society page drivel that he is forced to produce for his meager paycheck.

In his spare time, he loves to take pictures purely for his own enjoyment. While doing so, he stumbles across two young boys sitting on the porch of their country home next to a sign stating 2 CHILDREN FOR SALE. He uses the dark room at work to develop the photos and while they’re drying, his co-worker Lillian, secretary to the chief editor at his newspaper, sees it and slips in in with the sanctioned photos of the day for her boss.

This innocent act designed to help a friend starts the avalanche of secrets that form the basis of the novel. The characters in the story go on a tremendous journey of self-discovery while trying to sort out the details and make everything right in the end. The way the story unfolds will have you staying up late trying to solve the many mysteries that take place. The writing is incredibly rich and the personalities so well developed, you will have a hard time putting this book down.

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.

Sold On A Monday by Kristina McMorris is a thought-provoking story. It is the early 1930s and Ellis Reed is a young reporter trying to get his career started at the newspaper. While writing for the social column Ellis runs across two children sitting on a porch with a sign saying "2 Children for Sale." Ellis snaps a picture for his personal use but one of his coworkers sees the photo in the darkroom at the paper and submits it to the editor. Ellis is asked to write a story to go along with the picture. He has reservations about writing the story but does. After one gigantic snafu, the story and picture are printed and then printed in other papers as well. This article has repercussions for many and even though some seem to be for the better, things don't always work out for the best.

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!

I love historical fiction books that transport you to a different time and place and make you feel like you've been dropped right in the midst of that era. Sold on a Monday does exactly that, and it does it beautifully. This story takes place in 1931 during the Great Depression, when hunger, poverty, unemployment, and desperation was all too real and all too devastating.

This book is a fictional story based on a real photo taken of a mother/family selling their four children. As the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Ellis Reed is a reporter/photographer always looking for the next big story. He takes the photo. Lily Palmer is the newspaper secretary who helps launch his career. She develops it and gives it to their chief editor. One thing leads to another, and all hell breaks loose. Entangled in a web of past secrets and regrets, together they embark on the mission to right their wrongdoing.

This story is heartbreaking, hopeful, and captivating. They characters are vividly developed and quite likable. The setting and backdrop feel unbelievably real. The plot moves at a steady pace with the intrigue and suspense building at just the right time. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

#SoldOnAMonday #NetGalley

This is a gripping book. It has an interesting storyline and captivating characters. It is set in Pennsylvania in the early 1930’s. It is a difficult time for Americans. Those that were lucky enough to have jobs tried their best to hold onto them at all costs. Lily is the main female character. She is single and working as a secretary for the head of the local newspaper. There are two male reporters that are interested in Lily. That is all I’m going to say about the story. Suffice it to say that I spent a lot more time reading these last few days than I normally do. But it was time well spent. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review. Yes I will recommend to family and friends.

This book did not resonate with me. I had such high hopes for it but I felt the story fell flat. Was the river/flooding supposed to have symbolism with the family story woven throughout? I thought the story itself ended very abruptly, and could have been fleshed out a little more.

This book was not for me.

A real page turner. Ms. McMorris was able to bring me back to a time , post depression in the United States, when the country was struggling to get back to a bit of normalcy. However, normal was something that was all but forgotten by many of the victims of the stock market crash.
The author begins by introducing us to her wonderful cast of characters:
- A ‘cub’ reporter who while on assignment, would take advantage of the newspapers state-of-the-art photographically equipment, and shoot a few extra pictures for his private collection. A collection that included one picture of a struggling family.
- The secretary to the newspaper editor, who is instrumental in making the reporter and one of his photos famous.
- A mother and her two children who were the center of many surprising twists and turns.
- A supporting cast of family, co- workers, the rich and famous and even a mobster or two.

I was infringed by the way the story took me on a journey that I had never expected. The frustration and hopelessness experienced bunso many during the Depression vs. the human spirit that would never give up hope. The inner ability we all have to rationalize the irrational so that we may make it to another day. And finally the knowledge that the ‘easy way out’ sometimes is really the most difficult.

A desperate and earnest young newspaperman in the early 1930’s in Philadelphia stages a photo (having lost the original) for a story that goes nationwide with unpredictable and unfortunate repercussions. The story revolves around this event in combination with a triangle love affair, family relations and the importance of a mother’s instincts, the strained father-son relationships, and the Philadelphia 1930’s crime scene. An interesting read.