MEASURE OF DEVOTION
This richly conceived novel explores a mother’s direct experience in the American Civil War. In October 1863, Susannah Shelburne, 36, is living in South Carolina with her husband, Jacob. Their son Francis is a Confederate soldier, a choice which caused great familial conflict, as both parents oppose the Southern cause. When he is wounded near Chattanooga, Tennessee, Susannah sets out alone to bring him home.
She finds Francis delirious with trauma and pain. But soon mother and son are caught up in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and Francis becomes a prisoner of war. Amid hardship and unspeakable violence,
This richly conceived novel explores a mother’s direct experience in the American Civil War. In October 1863, Susannah Shelburne, 36, is living in South Carolina with her husband, Jacob. Their son Francis is a Confederate soldier, a choice which caused great familial conflict, as both parents oppose the Southern cause. When he is wounded near Chattanooga, Tennessee, Susannah sets out alone to bring him home.
She finds Francis delirious with trauma and pain. But soon mother and son are caught up in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and Francis becomes a prisoner of war. Amid hardship and unspeakable violence, Susannah stakes everything in the effort to return with him to South Carolina. Yet horrific news from home and intensifying friction between Susannah and her son bring her to a vortex of perilous and impossible choices.
- Regal House
- Paperback
- May 2025
- 9781646036127
Buy the Book
$20.95
About Nell Joslin
Nell Joslin is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina. She has published short fiction in literary journals, as well as numerous feature stories and art reviews in Raleigh’s News & Observer. Measure of Devotion is her debut novel. She currently lives in Raleigh.
Praise
“Nell Joslin’s accomplished debut novel explores the loss and destruction of war; through her protagonist, Susannah, the reader witnesses the moral depths of what unites and holds people together as well as what tears them apart.” —Jill McCorkle, New York Times best-selling author
“A female-centered Cold Mountain, Measure of Devotion chronicles a woman’s excruciating journey to save her son…. Brilliantly conceived, exquisitely written.” —Elaine Neil Orr, author of Swimming Between Worlds
“This Civil War-era novel is a richly textured, heartfelt portrait of a mother on a mission. It will leave you with a greater understanding of the issues that divided our country, resulting in profound loss on both sides. Honest and affecting.” —Susan Rivers, author of The Second Mrs. Hockaday
Discussion Questions
1. Jacob is an incredibly sympathetic character in the novel. Why do you think that Susannah regarded him as she did?
2. Why do you think that the author chose to give Susannah a mixed-race heritage?
3. We know little about Letty’s previous life. What sort of background do you envision that Letty had?
4. What role do you think that Francis’s wartime episode with the young mother and her cow played in his mental health?
5. What part did the landscape play in both the events of the story and the development of the characters?
6. What common experiences were behind the attraction between Susannah and Dr. Andreas?
7. Do you think that Dr. Andreas made a good decision when he revealed to Susannah what he knew about her experience at General Thomas’s headquarters?
8. Do you think that there was a viable way that Susannah could have extricated Francis besides the way that she attempted?
9. What part did Susannah’s journey through the American heartland (near the end of the novel) play in her ability (or not) to accept all that had happened to her.
10. What role does Letty play in Susannah’s attempt to claim personal power?