Publishers Weekly
06/25/2018
The sale of two young children leads to devastating consequences in this historical tearjerker from McMorris (The Christmas Collector). In 1931, struggling society writer Ellis Reed spots two children on the porch of a farmhouse in Laurel Township, Penn., with a sign that says “2 Children for Sale.” Ellis snaps their picture before developing it in his newspaper’s darkroom, where it’s found by Lillian Palmer, an editor’s secretary. Lily shows the photograph to her boss, who then orders Ellis to write a story to accompany the photograph. The photograph and negative, though, are inadvertently destroyed before the story runs, forcing Ellis to shoot a staged photograph with different children. Ellis’s story creates a sensation that launches his career, but when the children in the staged photograph are actually sold by their mother after she receives an incorrect terminal diagnosis, Ellis and Lily feel responsible and set out to reunite the family. Set against the hardscrabble backdrop of the Great Depression, McMorris’s altruistic and sometimes damaged characters have moral compasses that realistically waver. A tender love story enriches a complex plot, giving readers a story with grit, substance, and rich historical detail. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, the Book Group. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
"Kristina McMorris does what few writers can-transport me right into the middle of the story." - Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"In Sold on a Monday, Kristina McMorris has written a vivid and original story, set against the harsh landscape of the Great Depression. McMorris brilliantly chronicles the way in which a moment's fateful choice can result in a lifetime of harrowing consequences. A masterpiece that poignantly echoes universal themes of loss and redemption, Sold on a Monday is both heartfelt and heartbreaking." - Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan's Tale
"Kristina McMorris evokes such a strong sense of place in her writing that to open her books feels less like reading and more like traveling." - BookPage
"With her signature style, Kristina McMorris once again plucks a devastating heartstring. Readers are transported through time and place to the desperate days of the American Great Depression. A real-life photograph stands as evidence to the heart of this novel: truth revealed, forgiveness found, and a story never to be forgotten." - Sarah McCoy, New York Times and international bestselling author of Marilla of Green Gables and The Baker's Daughter
"McMorris shines in this poignant and compulsively readable novel about how one reporter's seemingly small mistake in judgment leads to utter catastrophe for children caught in the jaws of the Great Depression. Based upon a haunting historical photograph, and told with finesse and compassion, this story will linger long after the pages have all been turned." - Stephanie Dray, New York Times bestselling author of America's First Daughter and My Dear Hamilton
"The sale of two young children leads to devastating consequences in this historical tearjerker from McMorris...Set against the hardscrabble backdrop of the Great Depression, McMorris's altruistic and sometimes damaged characters have moral compasses that realistically waver.A tender love story enriches a complex plot, giving readers a story with grit, substance, and rich historical detail." - Publishers Weekly
"Despite the sensitivity of the subject of missing children, McMorris' latest is touching and never maudlin. This book may appeal to fans of Lisa Wingate's Before We Were Yours (2017)." - Booklist
"[A] finely told, emotionally satisfying gem of a novel." - Historical Novels Reviews
