A Measure of Devotion by Nell Joslin (TLC Book Tour)

Susannah Shelburne lives in South Caroline in 1863.  She has a much older husband, Jacob, and one son, Francis.  Their family does not believe in slavery.  Francis left their family to join the Confederate army at the start of the war, much to his parents’ dismay.  As Jacob’s health fails, Susannah must leave him in the care of friends (employees that were former slaves that they freed), to travel to where Francis has been gravely wounded in battle.  Will Francis forgive her for the cruel words that she said before he left for the war?  Will this family survive the war?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This is a very well written, fascinating Civil War story.

·       Things were very complicated when people had anti-slavery sentiment and lived in the South.  I had never thought about people being killed in the south for their beliefs.

·       This novel was told in the first person viewpoint of Susannah. It flipped at first between “current day” of going to help Francis, to back when her and Jacob got together, married, and had Francis. 

·       A mother’s love is everything.  Susannah has many, many trials trying to save Francis, especially after he is captured as a prisoner of war.  Francis never seems grateful, but Susannah never stopped loving him.

·       The story showed the cruelty of war through all manner of what could be thought of as small incidents.  For example, Francis tells his mother the story of how they killed a cow in front of a young mother and her two young children.  This poor family didn’t have enough food to survive.

Overall, A Measure of Devotion by Nell Joslin is a beautifully written compelling story of the Civil War.

Book Source:  A review copy from Regel House Publishing as a part of the TLC Book Tour.