Doc Holliday's Gone - Softcover

Coleman, Jane Candia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0843949589 ISBN 13: 9780843949582

Publisher: Leisure Books, 2002

Synopsis

Two short novels in one volume follow Mary Katherine Horony, a.k.a. Big Nose Kate, who was the woman in Doc Holliday's life, and Viola Howell, who met with New Mexico governor Lew Wallace to plead the case of John Slaughter, the man she loves who stands accused of cattle rustling. Original.

About this title

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

Edition details

• Publisher: Leisure Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0843949589
• ISBN 13: 9780843949582
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 244