Book Synopsis:
2 CHILDREN FOR SALE
The scrawled sign, peddling young siblings on a farmhouse porch, captures the desperation sweeping the country in 1931. It’s an era of breadlines, bank runs, and 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 the image leads to his big break, the consequences are devastating in ways he never imagined.
Haunted by secrets of her own, secretary Lillian Palmer sees more in the picture than a good story and is soon drawn into the fray. Together, the two set out to right a wrongdoing and mend a fractured family, at the risk of everything they value.
Inspired by an actual newspaper photo that stunned readers across the nation, this touching novel explores the tale within the frame and behind the lens—a journey of ambition, love, and the far-reaching effects of our actions.
My Review:
4.25/5 stars. This book was great! I liked the characters, and the plot was very intriguing and compelling. It took a little bit to get going, but once it did, I read through it pretty quick. It was full of so many different twists that kept the story engaging and moving forward. Towards the end, however, the story started to get a bit convoluted. As a future journalist, I also liked that the book was about writing and journalism.
I didn't think much of the title at first, but it's actually really clever and has two meanings. The obvious meaning is related to the children getting sold, but the other meaning is that Ellis feels he "sold" his integrity as a journalist the day - Monday - his story was published. The event that set everything into motion happened on a Monday.
The characters were enjoyable. My favorite type of journalistic articles to write are features on interesting people, so I liked that that was also Ellis' favorite. He was a journalist because he knew there were people with stories to tell, and he wanted to tell them. I liked Lily as a character more, for a couple of reasons. I loved her backstory, and I loved her determination to be a writer at a time when women weren't respected in that field.
Throughout this book, there was so much pro-life subtext, which I loved. Lily's backstory had the most of it, but the entire plot itself centers around a mother's love for her children. I don't know if the pro-life themes were intentional on the author's part, but either way it made this book even better.
Once I got past the slower beginning, I ate this book up and finished it in just a few days. Each time I would think things were getting close to be resolved, there would be a twist and I had to keep reading to find out what happened next. On the other hand, this got to be a bit much toward the end. It got to the point where there were too many things happening and the plot started to drag. I got annoyed at how many things were preventing the problem from resolving.
Content:
Language: A little more bad language than I would have liked. D*mn, sh*t, p*ss, h*ll (multiple instances of each), jack*ss, God's and Jesus' names taken in vain in various forms
Sexual Content: A few kisses that aren't described, then a pretty detailed kiss that seems like it will lead to more but gets interrupted
Violence/Gore: Mentions of mafia/mob activity, a scene where someone is questioned and a person getting violently beat up is heard in the background, child abuse
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