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Southern Son: The Saga of Doc Holliday
You've heard Doc Holliday's history, but do you know his story?
His name conjures images of the Wild West, of gunfights and gambling halls and a legendary friendship with Wyatt Earp, but before Doc Holliday was a Western legend, he was a Southern Son. The story begins in Civil War Georgia, as young John Henry Holliday welcomes home his heroic father and learns a terrible secret about his mother, with his only confidant his favorite cousin Mattie. As the Confederacy falls and tragedy strikes, John Henry's hero-worship turns to bitter anger and he joins with a gang of vigilantes to chase the Reconstruction Yankees out of their small Georgia town. When their murderous plot is discovered and brings threats of military prison, he vows to change his reckless ways, leaving home to attend dental school in Philadelphia and hoping to become a respected professional man worthy of asking for his cousin Mattie's hand. But when he returns from two years in the North he finds family intrigues, lies and revelations, rivals for Mattie's affections--and a violent encounter that changes everything and starts him on the road to Western legend.
Southern Son is the first book in the award-winning Saga of Doc Holliday, an epic American tale of heroes and villains, dreams lost and found, families broken and reconciled, of sin and recompense and the redeeming power of love.
His name conjures images of the Wild West, of gunfights and gambling halls and a legendary friendship with Wyatt Earp, but before Doc Holliday was a Western legend, he was a Southern Son. The story begins in Civil War Georgia, as young John Henry Holliday welcomes home his heroic father and learns a terrible secret about his mother, with his only confidant his favorite cousin Mattie. As the Confederacy falls and tragedy strikes, John Henry's hero-worship turns to bitter anger and he joins with a gang of vigilantes to chase the Reconstruction Yankees out of their small Georgia town. When their murderous plot is discovered and brings threats of military prison, he vows to change his reckless ways, leaving home to attend dental school in Philadelphia and hoping to become a respected professional man worthy of asking for his cousin Mattie's hand. But when he returns from two years in the North he finds family intrigues, lies and revelations, rivals for Mattie's affections--and a violent encounter that changes everything and starts him on the road to Western legend.
Southern Son is the first book in the award-winning Saga of Doc Holliday, an epic American tale of heroes and villains, dreams lost and found, families broken and reconciled, of sin and recompense and the redeeming power of love.
387 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
27 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Wilcox
12 books34 followersVictoria Wilcox is Founding Director of Georgia’s Holliday-Dorsey-Fife House Museum (the antebellum home of the family of Doc Holliday, now a site on the National Register of Historic Places), where she learned the family’s untold stories of their legendary cousin and his connection to the real people behind "Gone with the Wind." Her work with the museum led to two decades of original research, making her a nationally recognized authority on the life of Doc Holliday.
Wilcox is the author of the documentary film "In Search of Doc Holliday" and the historical novel trilogy "The Saga of Doc Holliday (Southern Son, Dance with the Devil, Dead Man’s Hand)." She has twice received Georgia Author of the Year honors and in 2016 was named Best Historical Western Novelist by True West Magazine. Her new pictorial biography "The World of Doc Holliday: History & Historic Images" will be released in 2020.
Wilcox has lectured across the country, appeared in local and regional media, guested on NPR affiliates, and was featured in the Fox Network series "Legends & Lies: The Real West." She is a member of the Western Writers of America, Women Writing the West, The Wild West History Association, and the Writer’s Guild of the Booth Museum of Western Art and has been a featured contributor to True West Magazine.
In the summer of 2017, Wilcox joined actor Val Kilmer (Tombstone) as guest historian at the inaugural Doc HolliDays in Tombstone, Arizona, site of the legendary OK Corral gunfight.
Reviews:
"As a biographer of John Henry 'Doc' Holliday, I can only be envious of Victoria Wilcox’s telling of his story. The facts of a life so intriguing —and the gaps in the facts — are cruel dampers to the historian, limited as he is by the record. Wilcox pursues the truth in a powerful and moving novel that is not tainted by the legend of its central character, trapped by the documentary evidence of his life, or tempted to ignore history. She tells his story with an intimate voice that is surprisingly fresh and compelling. Here, Doc is alive and his world real--wonderfully so."
--- Dr. Gary Roberts, bestselling author of 'Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend'
"This wonderfully written novel brings together one of the great stories of the American Frontier. Author Wilcox has done a superb job through fiction of creating a sense of time and place and giving us an intriguing look at one of the most controversial figures in the West – Dr. John Henry Holliday."
--- Casey Tefertiller, author of 'Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend'
Wilcox is the author of the documentary film "In Search of Doc Holliday" and the historical novel trilogy "The Saga of Doc Holliday (Southern Son, Dance with the Devil, Dead Man’s Hand)." She has twice received Georgia Author of the Year honors and in 2016 was named Best Historical Western Novelist by True West Magazine. Her new pictorial biography "The World of Doc Holliday: History & Historic Images" will be released in 2020.
Wilcox has lectured across the country, appeared in local and regional media, guested on NPR affiliates, and was featured in the Fox Network series "Legends & Lies: The Real West." She is a member of the Western Writers of America, Women Writing the West, The Wild West History Association, and the Writer’s Guild of the Booth Museum of Western Art and has been a featured contributor to True West Magazine.
In the summer of 2017, Wilcox joined actor Val Kilmer (Tombstone) as guest historian at the inaugural Doc HolliDays in Tombstone, Arizona, site of the legendary OK Corral gunfight.
Reviews:
"As a biographer of John Henry 'Doc' Holliday, I can only be envious of Victoria Wilcox’s telling of his story. The facts of a life so intriguing —and the gaps in the facts — are cruel dampers to the historian, limited as he is by the record. Wilcox pursues the truth in a powerful and moving novel that is not tainted by the legend of its central character, trapped by the documentary evidence of his life, or tempted to ignore history. She tells his story with an intimate voice that is surprisingly fresh and compelling. Here, Doc is alive and his world real--wonderfully so."
--- Dr. Gary Roberts, bestselling author of 'Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend'
"This wonderfully written novel brings together one of the great stories of the American Frontier. Author Wilcox has done a superb job through fiction of creating a sense of time and place and giving us an intriguing look at one of the most controversial figures in the West – Dr. John Henry Holliday."
--- Casey Tefertiller, author of 'Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend'
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 18, 2024
**NOTE: My copy was only 378 pages long. I could not find an edition that matched that length, even by the ISBN.
Like many of my generation, my first exposure to Doc Holliday was from old cowboy movies my father watched. He loved studying the 1800's, and living in Georgia, he told quite a few stories about John Henry. But honestly, I never knew much about Holliday's life prior to him moving out West. Yes, yes, I know this is historical fiction, but clearly Wilcox did her research to make it believable, and she has a good talent for writing.
Even though you know where the story is headin', you can't help but hope and root for John Henry, and your heart breaks with him. Especially as someone who has a very turbulent relationship with my own father, never feeling I measured up either, so I empathized a lot with him.
Really looking forward to reading Book #2.
Like many of my generation, my first exposure to Doc Holliday was from old cowboy movies my father watched. He loved studying the 1800's, and living in Georgia, he told quite a few stories about John Henry. But honestly, I never knew much about Holliday's life prior to him moving out West. Yes, yes, I know this is historical fiction, but clearly Wilcox did her research to make it believable, and she has a good talent for writing.
Even though you know where the story is headin', you can't help but hope and root for John Henry, and your heart breaks with him. Especially as someone who has a very turbulent relationship with my own father, never feeling I measured up either, so I empathized a lot with him.
Really looking forward to reading Book #2.
September 3, 2020
We may think we know Doc Hollliday, having seen him portrayed in numerous Westerns. But Victoria Wilcox gives us the story behind the legend in Southern Son.
For the notorious dentist-turned-gunfighter of the Old West started at as John Henry Holliday, son of a stiff-necked Confederate officer from rural Georgia. John Henry’s sainted mother died of consumption while he was yet young, and subsequent events in the young man’s life turned him eventually toward the West.
Southern Son gives the intimate point-of-view that good novels present, while combining it with unprecedented research on the actual circumstances of Holliday’s life. The first book in a series on Doc Holliday, Southern Son is an absorbing read.
For the notorious dentist-turned-gunfighter of the Old West started at as John Henry Holliday, son of a stiff-necked Confederate officer from rural Georgia. John Henry’s sainted mother died of consumption while he was yet young, and subsequent events in the young man’s life turned him eventually toward the West.
Southern Son gives the intimate point-of-view that good novels present, while combining it with unprecedented research on the actual circumstances of Holliday’s life. The first book in a series on Doc Holliday, Southern Son is an absorbing read.
September 22, 2019
This is the Doc Holliday trilogy to read. I have read other Holliday historical fiction, and the protagonist is either based upon Val Kilmer or some other unrecognizable personality. Having researched Holliday myself, I know that Wilcox's version is closest to history. Her research is massive, and she is a Georgian, just like Holliday. And she is married to a dentist!
April 15, 2020
It's very interesting to learn about the early days of Doc Holiday. I'm enjoying this series very much and recommend to anyone who is interested in Doc's history.
August 30, 2020
Interesting read about who he was, his personality, and his family. Didn't know he grew up in Georgia.
March 4, 2020
This is not a period of history that has ever fascinated me, but I found that the story of John Henry Holliday was hard to put down. Victoria's prose is compelling and she weaves a good story.
The emotions are real and raw. She captures the struggles of a son trying to please his impossible to please father. The teenage John Henry comes alive in her hands. Masterfully done.
The emotions are real and raw. She captures the struggles of a son trying to please his impossible to please father. The teenage John Henry comes alive in her hands. Masterfully done.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews