Pure Heart

January 30, 2017
In this earnest, heartfelt memoir, Ball, assisted by Witter (Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World) tells of a midlife decision to resettle her family. Ball and her husband, Charlie, learning to leverage assets and always looking for the next investment, made a comfortable life for themselves in Austin, Tex. When both of their sons were born with severe disabilities, Ball stayed home to care for them and found ways to keep her industrial spirit intact. But after years of ER visits for their boys from dust and heat, the family sold off everything and started over in Asheville, N.C. Barely settled in to their new Appalachian home, the family attempted to recreate the success they enjoyed in Texas. With more comprehensive resources from the area to help with her sons, Ball found herself with time to begin a project of her own. While her husband worked on his dream project of developing land, Ball took to a new hobby—distilling whiskey. Utilizing newfound friends, research and grit, Ball became the first person in 80 years to apply for a distilling license in western North Carolina, and six weeks later she was the first woman in North Carolina (and the fourth woman in the U.S.) federally permitted to distill hard liquor. Her celebration was cut short however when her husband told her a few weeks later that they were broke. Ball’s Southern charm shines in her memoir as she shares her family’s successes and failures. She never asks for sympathy for the choices they made that led to their financial demise and ultimate perseverance. The histories of Asheville and distilling are woven throughout and add depth to her memoir.

November 15, 2016
The first woman ever licensed to distill hard liquor in North Carolina uncorks an emotionally charged memoir about traversing family heartache to become the "moonshine mama" of the South.In the art of making moonshine, "pure heart" refers to the elusive part of the distillation process when fermenting corn mash begins to yield the best part of "platinum whisky." It also describes the fierce and unwavering love that Ball, founder and owner of Asheville Distilling Company, demonstrates caring for her wheelchair-bound sons, Marshall and Coulton. Born with severe health issues and prone to near-constant respiratory infections, the boys weren't expected to live into their teen years. Ball refused to let that happen, and she also found a way to resurrect the entrepreneurial spirit her beloved father instilled in her when she was a girl running her own horse shows in Texas. Determined to give her kids a better chance far away from those dusty confines, however, Ball and her devoted husband, Charlie, packed up the family and moved to Asheville. There, the author, who wrote the book with the assistance of veteran co-author Witter, realized that she and moonshine were a perfect match. Invoking the salesmanship learned at her father's knee, she valiantly began to construct her new company making her own authentic brew. The business soured fast, however, when Charlie's real estate ventures tanked, and what began as the author's quest for identity and self-fulfillment quickly became a desperate mission to save her family from dissolution and ruin. "Even now," she writes, "I find my resentment bubbling up, not for the bad investment--that was the product of the times--but because my husband didn't listen [to her business advice]." Teetering between success and failure, Ball was able to create a thriving business through sheer hard work and good sense. A heart-stirring life story.

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