Doc Holliday's Woman

by Jane Candia Coleman

A fictional version of the life of Kate Elder, a courageous, independent woman who survived alone on the frontier, from St. Louis to the OK Corral, and eventually became Doc Holliday's mistress

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical

365 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1995

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Maria Doria Russell's new DOC, I felt berefit when the novel ended. She'd done Doc Holliday such justice, even quoting his beloved Latin. However, I felt jilted that I didn't get to know much about "Kate." Or that ridiculous nickname male historians coined for her, "Big Nosed-Kate."

But hasn't that always been sexist, revisionist, white-male-oriented narcississtic history? A paternal view of "history" whereby white men are adorned as legends just for whipping out pistols? Women are ignored, or if noted, either acclaimed as Madonnas or Whores. Wow, how fun for us, how fair when so many women quietly changed history!

Not so with Jane Candia Coleman's, Doc Holliday's Woman. It makes sense, right next to a great man, is a great woman. Like Doc, she was educated; she took risks; she was a fighter and she was brilliant. In fact, unlike the Noblige Oblige, behind Doc, Kate Harony decended from Hungarian wealth, her father a physican to Maximillian. Her parents fled political persecution, and wound up in hard times in Davenport, Iowa. Kate was left to fend for herself.

So saying Kate's intelligence helped pull Doc out of a few scrapes is an understatement. The only thing that is truly sad is the names "Doc Holliday" and "Wyatt Earp" are legendary, while "Kate Harony" isn't, but it should be.

Pour yourself a glass of wine, and spend the weekend with Kate. You won't regret it. Coleman's well-researched novel feels more autobiographical at times, and her research shows. Her prose is simple, and not flowery. I've ordered several more of her books--well done!

[Cruse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never realized the depth of the personalities of these people especially this woman.

[Chris Gager · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will be my next read, though I already read a bit last night. Looks pretty good... The author doesn't rate a wiki page yet. Why not?

So far this is pretty good but not great literature or anything. A bit better editing might have helped, such as adding a space between paragraphs when the time or setting changes. That happens some of the time but not enough - sloppy. For what it's worth there was a John Wayne movie titled "The Sons of Katie Elder"(I've seen it) but in that one she dies and is avenged. I guess they just borrowed the name because this Kate Elder is 85 years old in 1935!

I'm at about the halfway point as Kate is about to be reunited with her true love after a stint as a prostitute(confirmed in wiki) in a house operated by Wyatt Earp's sister-in-law Bessie(in Wichita). Kate seems to fall in love regularly and she claims to have bedded Wyatt Earp himself after Doc dumped her the first time. A flaw: TOO MUCH goopy romantic and soft-core sex goop. Not a LOT, mind you, but still too much.

- a passage on p. 69 is confusing. did he stay or did he go?

Doc and Kate are together again and currently residing in Deadwood. Seems like I read about this from a different perspective in a different book a few months ago. Can't recall the title... Anyway, we've got about 90 pages left to get to the big gunfight in Tombstone. Gotta love those Western town names! There once was a town near Prescott, AZ named Jackass Flats... now it is Prescott Valley!

- All these west Texas books talk about the Llano Estacado. When you leave Amarillo heading west to Albuquerque that's what you drive through.

- The book IS nicely written. Kate appreciates the beauty of the West.

Finished last night as the main story ends with Doc's death from TB about six or so years after Tombstone. He wasn't into good self care. Sounds familiar. If he'd just moved to Tucson or Globe and settled down with Kate he'd have lived a lot longer. Self-destructive...

- She describes the same famous incident in Dodge where Doc saved Wyatt's life from a bunch of angry cowboys. It's in many books...

- A decent book but no classic. Good for readers of westerns: 3.25* rounds down to 3*

[Sue Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book

A well written and interesting book on Kate Elder the girlfriend and common law site of Doc Holliday.
It's nice to see her taking centre stage as the author nicely created a voice for her. So often she is marginalized and pushed to the as are all the wives in the Tomstone story.
So I would recommend it.

[Jo Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable book, I found myself often wondering where the truth left off and creative license took over. I appreciated that this book did not paint Kate as poorly as most do, she was definitely portrayed as a complex woman who sometimes made bad choices.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Out of town kid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan. I really enjoy the way this girl puts things.

[Tom Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Candia Coleman’s “Doc Holliday’s Woman” is well researched and well written.
Kate’s basic story comes from Professor A.W. Bork’s research and interviews with Mary Katharine Haroney during the 1930’s. Ms. Coleman had access to volumes of notes and interviews. She traveled to Texas to search the archives at Stephens County and Shackleford County, did archive work in New Mexico and actually rode parts of the Western Cattle Trail to get a sense of place.
From the time of her mother’s death in 1866 Kate became a lonely figure moving from one tragic affair to another. Episodes with a riverboat captain, St Louis and the convent gave her a background and eventually the name Kate Elder.
As Kate moves west through the bustling cattle towns of Kansas we get a first hand account of the girls and madams that occupied the bawdy houses. Later in Griffin, Texas Kate spends time at Shaughnessy’s saloon with Doc Holliday.
Wyatt Earp shows up on the trail of an outlaw. Doc points Wyatt in the right direction and once Wyatt hits the trail Kate gives a glimpse into the future. ‘Doc and Wyatt; Wyatt and Doc. Two men, each part of the other’s destiny, each part of mine.’
During a poker game Doc called Ed Bailey for sneaking a look at the deadwood. The offended Bailey pulled his gun; Doc deflected the shot and planted a knife in Bailey’s gut. It was a defensive move on Doc’s part but when Ed Bailey died of the wound his pals planned to hang Doc in spite of the circumstances. The sheriff put Doc in protective custody but Kate took things into her own hands and pulled off a dandy escape. Next stop Dodge City, Kansas.
Kate got her man and the two of them spend time in a tumultuous, on again, off again relationship. After spending time in Dodge City and Las Vegas, New Mexico Kate and Doc wind up in a silver mining camp called Tombstone.
1881 was a year of chaos in Tombstone, killings stemming from gambling disputes, a gang of outlaws called cowboys intimidate the citizens, but a botched stagecoach robbery and the killing of Bud Philpot and a passenger got the most attention. Doc was accused of being in on the holdup and hauled into court. A note signed by an inebriated Kate prompted the charge against Doc. However, in court Kate recanted her signed statement and the judge threw out the complaint. Even though the case fell apart Doc felt that he had been betrayed by Kate and wanted nothing more to do with her.
Kate took a stage to Globe, Arizona and went to work in a hotel. Kate tells the rest of the Tombstone saga from a distance, the shootout at the OK Corral, Judge Spicer’s Hearing, the shooting of Virgil Earp and the murder of Morgan Earp.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just read "Doc" by Mary Doria Russell I just had to know more about Doc Holliday's on-again/off-again companion, Mary Katherine Haroney alias Kate Elder, alias Mrs. Doc Holliday and several others. Portrayed somewhat differently in each book; one from Doc's perspective as a man dying most of his life from tuberculosis and one from Kate's perspective, a young Hungarian woman from a relatively wealthy family now immersed in the dust and lust of the Wild West which surprisingly she grew to love.
There were no breaks for Kate as she transitioned from her privileged birth and life in Hungary, then Mexico with her family to being orphaned along with her siblings as a teenager after both parents died. Kate and her siblings were put by authorities with a family to include a despicable "father" who continuously raped her. She killed him (or so she thought) and managed to escape. Her self-preservation all began then and continued as a classy woman who found herself in survival mode among the cattlemen, gamblers and lawmen, many of whom wanted to use her but others vying for her genuine attention. She believed she had no skills she could count on (although she was smart and well-read) so she sold herself night after night in order to avoid homelessness. There were men and husbands (even Wyatt Earp) along the way but most were killed and then came Doc Holliday, in and out of her life. Doc, a dentist, successful gambler and gunman working alongside the Earp brothers to right the wrong in the West. Kate truly cared for Doc and he for her but it was a blustery relationship as they helped each other out of trouble and together fought Doc's TB.

Kate explained..."Times were different then. Men and women did what they had to do to survive, as I did. But there’s no need to go into all that with this writer who wants to talk to me, this skinny creature who thinks he knows it all. And no need to confess that I, Mary Katharine Haroney born in Hungary, am not even a citizen of this country except in my heart where these things matter."

By the way, both books seem carefully researched. My next read will be another Mary Doria Russell book, Epitaph about the Gunfight at O.K.Corral in Tombstone Arizona. I just can't get enough of these colorful characters.

[Lisa James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. This book is a work of fiction, true, but it is all based on fact. Kate was indeed a real life lady, & this book was based on the diaries she kept throughout her life depicting the events & times she lived through. I have never been one for Westerns, but reading the story of Doc Holliday & Wyatt Earp, & the gunfight at the OK Corral through the eyes of the woman who witnessed it was fascinating. She was a true woman of the times, doing what she had to do to get by, & not apologizing for it. There were many times I felt sorry for her throughout the events, but admired her for her grit, her strength of will, her self confidence, her daring. She was a complex lady who remained kind hearted, honest in her own heart, & true to her love for Doc throughout her long & eventful life.

She's a woman I would have loved to have known.

[Shay Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would give this book six stars if I could. I absolutely adored it. I identified utterly with Kate Elder, who is brought vividly to life here. The descriptions of the old west and what happened there are amazing, and Kate herself is every bit as passionate, remarkable, and fascinating as any of the now-famous men she crosses paths with. It's the old west through the eyes of a woman, one I loved spending this time with.

[Leslee Breene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane Candia Coleman must be one of the foremost authors of Western fiction. Her direct, colorful imagery and storytelling absorb the reader. She succeeded in bringing her main character, Big Nose Kate Elder, to life on the page through the use of first person viewpoint.

Wish there were more female writers of her stature on the literary scene today.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this because the guy I had a crush on (now my husband) was fascinated with the Tombstone story as seen in the movie with Val Kilmer. I love history of the western U.S., too, so this fit right in. Good book.

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

great

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book! Great descriptions of how hard the Wild West was...especially women. Women that did what they had to do to survive.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

The women of the west have a story to tell and Jane Candia Coleman is the one to help them. Wonderful western story.

[Michael Garreffa` · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Enjoyable Book.

[Jim Daugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big Nose Kate

If you like historic fiction this is a good read. Ending went to fast though. Still would recommend it to any Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday fan.