In the Absence of Belief: A Memoir and Manifesto from Heart Appalachia

To Arrive Where I Started—and Know It for the First TimeFor anyone raised in a forgotten place who has lost part of themself, for those from Appalachia labeled “backward” and blamed for America’s ills, and for anyone who’s ever whispered, Is this all there is?—the journey begins here. Entrepreneur and life-long Appalachian Joel Beverly, alongside his partner Fern, traces a path from the hollers of East Kentucky through Europe, Egypt, and beyond in search of something deeper. Along the way, he dismantles inherited myths about success, identity, and belonging—offering a raw, lyrical exploration of what remains when belief systems fall away. Part memoir, part travelogue, and part cultural manifesto, In the Absence of Belief calls us back to the sacred truth of presence and possibility. It offers not another ideology but an invitation to see clearly, to belong wholly, and to live freely. More than a story about reclaiming a place, it’s about reclaiming ourselves.