Audiobook Sample
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- Title: Sold on a Monday
- Author: Kristina McMorris
- Narrator: Brian Hutchison
- Length: 09:49:48
- Version: Abridged
- Release Date: 28/08/2018
- Publisher: Recorded Books
- Genre: Fiction & Literature, Historical Fiction, Family Life
- ISBN13: 9.78E+12
The first time I heard Brian Hutchison’s voice wrap around Kristina McMorris’s prose in “Sold on a Monday”, I was sitting in a Pennsylvania diner near the very railroad tracks that might have carried Ellis Reed’s newspaper to distant cities. The clatter of dishes and murmur of conversations faded as Hutchison’s narration transported me to 1931, where a single photograph would unravel lives in ways both devastating and redemptive. This audiobook experience reminds me why I fell in love with oral storytelling during those Oaxacan evenings – when a skilled narrator doesn’t just read words, but breathes life into history’s forgotten corners.
McMorris’s novel unfolds like a vintage photograph developing before your ears. Inspired by an actual Depression-era newspaper image of children with a ‘For Sale’ sign, the story follows reporter Ellis Reed and secretary Lily Palmer as their journalistic coup spirals into moral complexity. Hutchison’s narration captures Ellis’s ambition with a crisp, slightly hurried delivery in the newsroom scenes, then slows to aching vulnerability when describing the children’s plight. His Lily voice carries the perfect blend of 1930s propriety and simmering intelligence – you can practically hear her pencil skirts swishing through the newspaper office.
The audiobook’s greatest strength lies in how Hutchison handles the emotional weight. During the pivotal farmhouse scene, his pause before reading the sign’s words – ‘2 CHILDREN FOR SALE’ – lasts just half a second longer than expected, creating the same gut-punch effect as the original photograph must have delivered. It reminds me of how my Oaxacan host grandmother would use silence as potent punctuation in her stories. The production quality enhances this effect – subtle train whistles and typewriter clicks in transitional moments root you firmly in the era without overwhelming the narrative.
McMorris’s research shines through in sensory details that Hutchison delivers with relish. When describing the ‘sour tang of desperation’ in a Hooverville or the ‘molasses-slow drawl’ of a rural doctor, the narrator’s voice takes on textures as varied as the Depression-era landscapes I’ve encountered in my travels. Particularly haunting is his rendition of young Samuel’s voice – not precocious but heartbreakingly matter-of-fact about his family’s circumstances. It brought back memories of interviewing Dust Bowl survivors in Oklahoma, where resilience often wore the face of exhausted acceptance.
Some listeners might find the first hour’s pacing deliberate, but this mirrors the gradual exposure of a photographic print. By the time the moral dilemmas deepen – when Ellis and Lily realize their story has real-world consequences – Hutchison’s tempo quickens like a heartbeat under stress. The courtroom scenes crackle with his taut delivery, while intimate moments between Ellis and Lily carry a warmth that avoids sentimentality.
Compared to other historical fiction audiobooks like “The Four Winds” or “Water for Elephants”, “Sold on a Monday” stands out for its journalistic framework. Hutchison’s performance honors this by maintaining reporter-like clarity even in emotional scenes, much like the best war correspondents I’ve met retain composure while describing horrors. The audiobook format particularly serves McMorris’s flashback structure, with Hutchison’s subtle vocal shifts signaling time changes more elegantly than page breaks could.
If the novel has a weakness, it’s that some secondary characters verge on period-piece archetypes. Yet Hutchison salvages even these moments – his raspy-voiced mobster and world-weary editor transcend their types through vocal nuance. The abridged runtime (just under 10 hours) means some subplots feel trimmed, but this creates a focused narrative arc perfect for a weekend road trip listen.
For travelers like me who believe places hold memories, this audiobook becomes a time machine to Depression-era America. As I listened during a rainy afternoon in a Philadelphia boarding house (not unlike Lily’s), the line between past and present blurred. When Hutchison described Ellis developing photographs in red light, I caught myself squinting at actual red neon signs reflected in puddles outside. That’s the magic of exceptional historical fiction audiobooks – they don’t just tell stories, but reshape your perception of the spaces around you.
Until our next literary journey, keep listening to the stories whispered by history’s corners.
Marcus Rivera
