Kristina McMorris is the author of Sold on a Monday.From her Q&A with Deborah Kalb:
Q: You've said that the inspiration for your new novel came from a photo. How did that image lead to this book?Visit Kristina McMorris's website.
A: I was online one day, actually researching for another novel, when I happened across a photo. It was a black-and-white image of four children huddled on a stoop in Chicago, with their mother shielding her face from camera and a sign that read: “4 Children for Sale, Inquire Within.”
As you can imagine, I was stunned. I could understand a mother giving up her children for their betterment, but what would push a parent to ask for money in return?
That question kept haunting me until I finally did some research about the photo and discovered a recent follow-up article about the kids (now adults), and how some of them were reuniting for the first time since childhood.
Learning that the 5-year-old girl in the picture (whom I’ve since befriended) was sold for two measly dollars—apparently so her mother could have bingo money!—was astonishing. As was a claim by some family members that the photo was...[read on]
--Marshal Zeringue