55 pages • 1 hour read
Kristina McMorrisSold on a Monday
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 27-31Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 27 Summary
When Lily tells Ellis that Calvin is not with the Millstones, he drives to Hoboken to find him.
Once there, Ellis trails Sylvia and Ruby to Ruby’s school, but does not see Calvin. Ellis approaches Ruby during her recess. She asks if he is there to take pictures, offering that she saw him leave food boxes and other things on their porch, because she recognized his car’s engine.
Ruby tells Ellis, “I don’t got—have—a brother” (203), but then admits that Calvin did go with her to California, then to Hoboken, but he is now with Geraldine. Geraldine came to get Calvin since he needed her most. Ruby never saw her mother; it would have been too hard. Her mother told Ruby in a letter that she could only afford to look after one of them.
Once back in the newsroom, Ellis calls Geraldine, who denies taking Calvin. So, Ellis now believes Lily: either the couple gave Calvin away or something happened to Calvin when Ruby was not around. When Ellis sees Dutch’s clips, he notices that Ruby looks exactly like the Millstone’s deceased daughter, Victoria.
When Ellis calls Lily, he learns that Samuel is sick.
Chapter 28 Summary
Lily blames herself for Samuel’s illness, believing that he will die and it will be her fault. Lily is sitting with Samuel when Geraldine arrives with Ellis. Since Lily’s doctor did not come, Geraldine offered to come. Geraldine nurses Samuel and, over the next few hours, his temperature goes down. When Lily tries to stand, she nearly faints. Ellis catches her. Lily’s mother tells Ellis to take Lily downstairs for some food and fresh air.
Lily explains to Ellis that when she was pregnant with Samuel, she overheard the pharmacist giving a woman medicine after a miscarriage. The pharmacist said that miscarriages occur frequently often for no reason or after a fall. Lily thought about falling down the stairs, then felt Samuel kick. So, when Samuel gets sick she is afraid that God will answer those prayers to punish her. Ellis reminds her that she did not try to end the pregnancy. She starts to cry when Ellis tells her that her prayers were already answered, the baby’s kick was a sign: Lily could “choose life over guilt” (215). Ellis wipes her tears and they kiss. Lily’s mother enters, and tells Ellis and Geraldine they can leave now.
Chapter 29 Summary
Geraldine tells Ellis on the drive home that she is worried her children will forget her. Ellis realizes that she wants her children back, but cannot ask for them: She, like Lily, believes she deserves to lose her children.
At the newsroom, Walker tells Ellis that Millstone called and asked that the paper never contact him or his family again. Walker assured Millstone that it would be no problem; Ellis was never assigned to the story. But, surprisingly, Walker tells Ellis to be careful “snooping around” a story on someone connected to mobster Giovanni Trevino. Ellis only makes the connection to Italian mobster Max Trevino after talking to Dutch.
With mob links to the Millstones, he is even more concerned about the children, so Ellis visits Ruby again. Ruby needs her mother to know that she has been working with Claire to learn how to cook and sew so that her mother can take her back, since “it won’t cost her nothin’ to have me” and the family could be reunited (222). Just as Ellis is trying to come to terms with the sadness of the request, a police officer shows up. Ellis tries to run, but is caught and arrested.
Chapter 30 Summary
Lily is happier knowing that Samuel is safe and that she can protect him without always thinking the worst will happen. Trimble tells her that a woman had called him to discuss Lily’s attempt to get an interview. Trimble asks if she is looking for work at another paper. She tells him no: She has a son who was sick, which is why she was not at work. Trimble asks if the boy will interfere at work or at the boardinghouse. When Lily answers no, Trimble says no problem then. Lily is relieved and wonders if she should have been honest from the start.
Lily asks if she can have her own column dedicated to single parents, women, and men. Trimble agrees with two conditions: she keeps up with her usual job responsibilities and does not make the parents into “martyrs.” Lily leaves for lunch with Clayton. Clayton took a job at the Chicago Tribune. He asks Lily to go with him to Chicago and to marry him. Lily needs time to consider his proposal.
Chapter 31 Summary
Ellis is in jail. He uses his one call to get bail from his bank, but his account is frozen. He is moved to a small room and Mr. Millstone walks in. He admits to hiring the police officer. But Millstone thanks Ellis for the picture and story. After their daughter’s death, Sylvia experienced bouts of depression. They were preparing to institutionalize her when Sylvia saw the story that led Ruby and Calvin to their care.
Sylvia then enters the room and Ellis asks her about Calvin. Unlike Mr. Millstone, Sylvia is less willing to discuss the issue, and shows Ellis a letter that apparently Geraldine wrote to Ruby. The letter matches Ruby’s story, but Ellis realizes that Geraldine did not write it.
Geraldine does not have Calvin, Ellis explains, and asks again about the boy. Mr. Millstone tries to coax Sylvia into leaving, but Sylvia promises to drop the charges. Ellis threatens her, asking what if he wants the judge and the public to know what the Millstones have done? Sylvia returns his threat: She will have him charged with an “inappropriate relationship” with Ruby. Ellis quickly realizes that those charges would ruin him and risk Geraldine’s chance to get the kids back.
Once the Millstone’s leave, Ellis begs for a second call to his father.
Chapters 27-31 Analysis
Ellis and Lily’s relationship changes after Samuel becomes ill. After a long night of caring for the child, in a moment of fatigue and caring, they share their first kiss. They are learning more about one another, confiding in each other, and showing their romantic feelings.
Lily is now completely transformed, matching her private role as Samuel’s mother with her public role in the workplace. And, importantly, she is becoming a reporter and fulfilling her dream with a shot at her own column writing about single parents thanks to her persistence, and Trimble’s willingness to overcome his sexist attitudes and give her a shot.
The Dillard children are in a more precarious position with the Millstones then Ellis originally believed. Initially, Ellis believes that the Millstone’s position and wealth, in their beautiful home, would provide the children with all of life’s luxuries. Their wealth and position, along with Mr. Millstone’s kindness, also led Ellis to think that perhaps the children were better off where they were, especially since Geraldine did not want them back. But Ellis realizes that not only does Geraldine want them back, but given the Millstone’s ties to the mob and Sylvia’s anger and instability, the children could be in physical and emotional danger. Risking another visit to Ruby to get more information about Calvin was the only prudent option if they were going to protect the children.
