Doc Holliday's Gone (Five Star First Edition Western) [Hardcover]

Jane Candia Coleman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Five Star First Edition Western | Publication Date: November 1999

STORY TOLD AFTER DOC HOLLIDAYS DEATH BY HIS WOMAN BIG NOSE KATE A TRUE ACCOUNT OF HER LIVING IN THE WEST.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Modest in aim and simple in execution, this pair of diminutive (barely novella-length), well-researched fictionalized biographies by Coleman (Moving On; I, Pearl Hart) bring to life two authentic, true-grit Wild West heroines. The first, Mary Katherine Horony, alias Kate ElderAaka Big Nose KateAthe rejected prostitute lover of famous Tombstone, Ariz., marshal Wyatt Earp, earned her doubtful way into the history books as the devoted inamorata of notorious Doc Holliday during the final years of his life after the infamous shoot-out at the OK Corral. Intertwined with the series of flashback vignettes that reveal her life with the storied Holliday before and after the ill-famed gunfight are Kate's little-known adventures during her remaining 40-plus years as a restaurateur, bakery operator and frontierswoman. The narrative describes her marriage and divorce from the alcoholic miner George Cummings and the ensuing three decades with her common-law husband, hardscrabble prospector Jack Howard. The second novel, entitled Mrs. Slaughter, recounts the romantic history of Viola Howell, the 18-year-old daughter of rancher Amazon Howell, who earned second place on Governor Lew Wallace's (fabled author of Ben Hur) most wanted list of treacherous rustlers and murderers he vowed to jail or run out of New Mexico territory. Younger than John Slaughter by 20 years, Viola nonetheless persists in loving the fearless desperado. Featuring rowdy towns, bloodthirsty Indians, cutthroat outlaws, bad weather, and disease, these unpretentious profiles sparkle with affecting images of the heroic (and not so heroic) men and women of the Old West. (Dec.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In this collection of two outstanding short novels, Coleman displays the craftsmanship and sensitivity that brought her three awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and a pair of Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. In the title story, Coleman mixes fact and fiction effectively, telling the story of Mary Katherine Horony--aka Kate Elder, Big Nose Kate, etc.--who was born into wealth but reduced by circumstances to prostitution. She describes Kate's 10-year love affair with Doc Holliday, whose lungs gave out before his taste for cards and whiskey. She also details the time in Tombstone when Doc stood with the Earp brothers against the Clantons and others in a shootout that probably never should have happened. The second novella, Mrs. Slaughter, introduces Viola Howell, still in her teens, and John Slaughter, the older man she loves and eventually marries. Interestingly, the Slaughters also spend time in Tombstone and provide a different view of what went on there. Words well used by a talented genre author. Budd Arthur

Product Details

• Hardcover: 261 pages
• Publisher: Five Star (ME); 1st edition (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078621841X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786218417
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,126,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HISTORICAL NOVEL BEATS MOST NONFICTION ON THIS SUBJECT, July 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Doc Holliday's Gone (Mass Market Paperback)

This story, is more creative/nonfiction than historical novel in view of the weatlth of primary sources on both subjects of this two novella book: Big Nose Kate Elder and Viola Slaughter, wife of famous sheriff John Slaughter.

Author Coleman, has also written the historical novel on Big Nose Kate, Doc Holliday's Woman. This book is of the same quality and with the same historical insights from the family of Big Nose Kate. She was of minor Hungarian nobility, rather than the frontier floozie as which she is usually portrayed, such as by Fay Dunaway. Prior writers didn't even know Kate's real name, except for Glenn Boyer who discovered her family and real identity.

Well worth reading both for Coleman's captivating style and characterization and for historical insights.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Doc Holliday's Gone..., January 20, 2003

By 

S. Mcalpine "starfishian" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Doc Holliday's Gone (Five Star First Edition Western) (Hardcover)

The title of the book says it all Doc Holliday is Gone. In fact he is so far gone that you won't find him in this book. It is a great story, very well written story about Big Nose Kate, but nothing tangeable about Doc Holliday. Look elsewere for the Doc Holliday story.