Sunday, Jun 08, 2025 3:00 PM

Location:
A Cappella Books
208 Haralson Avenue, NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30307

A gripping and evocative historical novel set against the backdrop of the American Civil War.

“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 Cappella Books welcomes author Nell Joslin for a special evening talk and book signing in honor of her novel, "A Measure of Devotion." Joslin will appear in conversation with Josh Russell, Director of the Creative Writing Program for Georgia State University.

This event is free and open to the public; copies of the book will be available for purchase.

About the Book

Set against the tumultuous backdrop of the American Civil War, this intricately woven novel delves into the life of Susannah Shelburne, a thirty-six-year-old woman residing in South Carolina with her older husband, Jacob. Their son, Francis, defies his parents’ wishes by enlisting in the Confederate army, sparking bitter familial discord. In October 1863, devastating news arrives: Francis has been critically wounded near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Susannah embarks on a perilous journey to bring her son home, finding Francis delirious with fever and haunted by the horrors of battle. Their reunion is overshadowed by the conflicts at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, culminating in Francis being captured as a prisoner of war.

As the war exacts its toll and tensions escalate between mother and son, Susannah confronts impossible choices amidst harrowing revelations from home. This gripping narrative explores themes of sacrifice, resilience, and the profound impacts of war on family bonds, painting a vivid portrait of one woman’s relentless fight for survival and reconciliation in a time of unprecedented turmoil.

About the Author

Nell Joslin is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina and received her MFA from North Carolina State University. Besides a fiction writer, she has been a public school teacher, medical librarian, copy editor, freelance journalist, stay-at-home mom and attorney (although not all at the same time). She currently lives in Raleigh.

About the Conversation Partner

Josh Russell, Professor and Director of the Creative Writing Program, has published three novels, three chapbooks of very short prose, and more than a hundred stories and essays. His most recent book is "King of the Animals: Stories" (LSU Press, 2021). He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in Prose and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Shane Stevens Fellowship in the Novel. His books have won the Independent Publisher Book Award Bronze Medal for Literary Fiction and have been finalists for the Townsend Prize (twice), the Binghamton University John Gardner Book Award, and the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award. He is associate editor at Five Points and faculty advisor for New South.