A devastating American Civil War story. I was surprised and guessing with every page. A wonderful bite of history.

A telegram that changed everything:

“Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
October 29, 1863
Severe wound near hip joint. Father please come with Dr. Grimes.
-F.L. Shelburne, 6th South Carolina Volunteers”

Gravely ill, Jacob Shelburne was tended to by Hawk, his manservant, and assisted by wife Susannah Shelburne’s handmaid/healer. Hawk and Letty had been given their freedom papers however chose to remain with the family at Ardwyn, South Carolina, earning paid wages. Abolitionist sympathies needed to be hidden. In defiance, Francis, age 18, signed up to fight for the Confederacy. It fell upon 36 year old Susannah to travel to the front to nurse Francis and hopefully prevent his leg from amputation.

Letty shared her healing knowledge with Susannah. “Your hands and eyes and nose show the way. And your ears, too. Fever you can’t get down…spread the goldenseal paste…let it hard(en) seal it with beeswax…then lint and bandages…change bandages every day. Boil them between times. Change the bed every day, and boil them sheets…You got to stay calm even if your insides turning round and round like a squirrel in the road.” Letty, very astute, ahead of her time, with final words to Susannah, “I would not wager against your bringing him home. I would not wager against you for anything that you set out to do. You will be in danger, but you are equal to it.”

Leaving South Carolina by rail, Susannah was bound for Lookout Mountain. Would she be prepared for the challenges of the “wartime landscape?” The kindness of an injured Confederate officer enabled her to locate the small farmhouse/ officer’s quarters where Francis had been taken. From high up on Lookout Mountain, the Union camp in Chattanooga, Tennessee could be seen. Susannah’s great peril was exacerbated by Francis’ verbal rejection of her aid. Susannah would collect herself and “see this thing through to whatever end awaited.” She was allowed to stay in a room with Francis, sleep on the floor and minister to him while experiencing privation including danger to herself. An assigned soldier would help boil bandages and bedding while a Black slave foraged for herbs and cooked meager meals.

In alternating chapters, the backstory of Susannah’s marriage to Jacob and details of Francis’ upbringing came to light. Although small improvements to Francis’ condition were noted, his continued bitter vitriol and determination to rejoin his battalion bordered on madness. The Battle of Chattanooga was a defining moment. The Union Army’s occupation of the farm where Francis and Susannah were housed now made Francis a prisoner of war. Any act of defiance would send Francis to a field hospital and cancel Susannah’s lodging beside him.

In “Measure of Devotion” debut author Nell Joslin maps the devotion of a strong, determined mother who travels to the battlefield to nurse her injured son. Francis’ irritability…absence of gratitude and occasional outright hostility were constant challenges…”. Despite sustaining injury herself, Susannah's efforts would not be stymied.

“A Mother’s love is something that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain
It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it or take that love away…
-Helen Steiner Rice

Bravo to Nell Joslin for a heartfelt, informative and masterful Civil War novel written from the perspective of a mother nursing her injured Confederate son.

Thank you Caitlin Hamilton Marketing & Publicity for Regal House Publishing and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.