New Ways to Write About Whiskey, As Seen in Three Books
February 15, 2017
Most books about whiskey are about whiskey: how it's made, the history of a distillery, tasting notes, and the like. But as whisky/whiskey grows as a category and a cultural phenomenon, authors have found interesting new angles with which to talk about it. Or at least put it in the titles of their books.
Here are three new whiskey books with unique takes on whiskey narrative. (The descriptions are provided by the publishers and are not reviews.)
The Christian Whiskey Novel: The Angels' Share by James Markert
Some believed he was the second coming of Christ.
William wasn’t so sure.
But when that drifter was buried next to the family distillery, everything changed.
Now that Prohibition has ended, what the townspeople of Twisted Tree, Kentucky, need most is the revival of the Old Sam Bourbon distillery. But William McFee knows it’ll take a miracle to convince his father, Barley, to once more fill his family’s aging house with barrels full of bourbon.
When a drifter recently buried near the distillery begins to draw crowds of pilgrims, the McFees are dubious. Yet miracles seem to come to those who once interacted with the deceased and to those now praying at his grave. As people descend on the town to visit the “Potter’s Field Christ,” William seeks to find the connection between the tragic death of his younger brother and the mysterious drifter.
But as news spreads about the miracles at the potter’s field, the publicity threatens to bring the depth of Barley’s secret past to light and put the entire McFee family in jeopardy.
The Angels’ Share is a story of fathers and sons, of young romance, of revenge and redemption, and of the mystery of miracles.
The Whiskey Mystery and Treasure Hunt: Breakfast Tea & Bourbon by Pete Bissonette
Solve this novel's mystery to find real treasure worth $50,000!
Follow five best friends who sign up for a treasure hunt, rent a dilapidated RV, and head out on the search. This funny and quirky novel is a story within a story, because woven between the lines are clues to an actual treasure hidden for you to find.
After experiencing enough losses for a lifetime, Nels Ware does not take things for granted, especially his family of friends. So when a $50,000 treasure hunt grabs his attention, he recruits them for the rollicking quest.
Nels is certain he has deciphered the clues to the treasure's location. But has he? Is he leading his friends on a cross-country wild-goose chase? Will their dilapidated RV even deliver them to the treasure? Or will someone else beat them to it?
Might that someone be you?
Woven within the pages of the book are real-life clues leading to an actual physical treasure hidden somewhere in the United States worth $50,000.
The Inspirational Whiskey Book: Pure Heart: A Spirited Tale of Grace, Grit, and Whiskey by Troylyn Ball and Bret Witter
Troylyn Ball and her husband, Charlie, an engineer and real estate investor, had spent their entire lives in Texas. But after a near fatal trip to the emergency room with their mute, wheelchair-bound son Coulton, they admitted the dust and the heat were too dangerous. To save their boys, the Balls cashed out, sold their beloved farm, and moved to Asheville, North Carolina.
Nearing fifty, Troy thought her chance at adventure had passed. But in this booming little Appalachian Mountain city of hippies, farmers, artisans, and retirees, she unexpectedly discovered a support network and something she’d never had in twenty-five years of providing round-the-clock care for her special needs boys: the freedom to pursue her own dreams. She struck up a friendship with a legendary eighty-year-old raconteur from the mountains, met his friends, and soon found herself in a rickety country shack with an ingeniously inventive retired farmer trying to create the best recipe ever for traditional mountain moonshine.
But when the real estate bubble burst and the collapse of her husband Charlie’s new venture in Asheville left them deeply in debt, Troy realized her ten-year business plan for Troy & Sons Platinum Whiskey wasn’t enough. If she was going to save her family—and she was definitely going to save her family—she needed to become the most successful woman in the legal whiskey business. And she needed to do it fast, before the bank took her house, her business, and everything she’d worked so hard to achieve.
Full of eccentric characters and charming locations—from a "haunted" cabin in the mountains to the last farm in the world to grow heritage Crooked Creek corn—Pure Heart is a charming story of a woman who set out to find a purpose in the most unexpected of places, and ended up finding happiness, contentment, and a community of love and respect.
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