Driven from the Path: a Novel

"Driven From The Path: A Novel" by Charles Smart traces Lew Gordon from a disciplined Scottish upbringing to a veteran of the Civil War, as seen through a physician-narrator who threads moral reflections through the narrative. Lew's early life in the Losiach Valley, his escape into sea life, and his bond with Dora Raymond set the stage for a larger test: war. He joins the Union Army, rises to captain and major, and confronts the devastating fraternal clash when his brother Johnnie serves with the Confederacy, culminating in Johnnie's death. Dora becomes Lew's love and ethical touchstone, while Lizzie Wilson's memory haunts him with guilt and motive. Amid letters, memories, and a prefatory epistle that frames the tale, Lew's sense of duty, home, and forgiveness is tested as he contemplates resigning to spare Dora further sorrow. The novel examines duty versus desire, the corrupting or clarifying effects of war, and the search for a stable future.