.png)
“Men will leave you, your beauty will fade, your children will grow up and leave, and everything you thought your life was going to turn sour; the only thing you can count on is yourself and your talent.”
Each one of us had that little piece of media we hid from our parents when we were young. A romantic comic book, a scandalous Y/A novel, a cartoon where the lead couple kissed (what a shenanigan!) For the youth of the roaring sixties and wild early seventies, that slice of freedom was likely Valley of the Dolls. Written by Jacqueline Susann, this provocative masterpiece has everything you can possibly need: the Broadway scene, burnt-out stardom, the everlasting gap between men and women in the entertainment industry, and a woman named Anne (who was, surprisingly, the most sane character in this book). After hearing great things, I had finally purchased a paperback copy of Valley of the Dolls during my stay in London last year, and only got around to reading it a month ago. People around me called it “an essential”, “a feminist must-read”, and some had stated that this very book changed their lives altogether. You know me - I had to see what the hype’s about!
Fashion montage from Valley of the Dolls from NOBODY's YT Channel
In this book, this Hollywood, this scene, it is not enough to merely have money. You must also have fame, youth, love, connections, and a reputation that precedes you. Everybody, without exception, is a participant in the rat race to The Top, or, as referred to in the book - the summit of Mount Everest. As the characters of this book will find out, all those pieces of heaven come with a great price, and that is a one-way ticket to the Valley of the Dolls.
Valley of the Dolls movie trailer from Sharon Tate Forever's YT Channel
Anne Welles decides to leave her small birth town of Lawrenceville, where everything is dull and never changes. She’s frustrated with her family and the endless Lawrencevillian loop of boredom. With very little money (but a lot of ambition), she heads to New York City to start a brand new life, and she’s got everything she needs to make it - she’s beautiful and young, and in this society, it’s just enough.
She rents a tiny flat on a sketchy street, where she befriends her down-the-hall neighbour, 17-year-old Neely O’hara (based on Judy Garland). Starting to work as a secretary for entertainment lawyer Henry Bellamy, Anne falls in love with the first guy Henry warns her is no good - handsome and mysterious Lyon Burke. Simultaneously, she goes on dates with entitled millionaire Allen Cooper, who wants her to quit her job and become his trophy wife. Getting caught in the web of a dilemma between a chance in love and an opportunity to see the top of Mount Everest, newbie Anne Welles is not such a nobody any more.
She finds herself in the middle of the messed up Broadway scene, dining and wining with superstars like Helen Lawson (based on Ethel Merman), partying in the most relevant clubs, and falling subject to the public eye’s judgemental stare - she was making her way to the top, with or without Allen Cooper! How wonderful, surely nothing bad, traumatic or generally messed up will happen that will embitter her life! (Just kidding, y’all. Disturbing things will most definitely happen.) Buckle up!
The book follows two other heroines, who’s paths of lives intertwined with Anne’s: Neely O’hara, as we mentioned, is a highly talented actress in her journey to get some recognition in this jungle we call Hollywood whom Anne befriends early in the book. The other, Jennifer North, was introduced later on and was described in a pretty rude manner. Basically, she gained her fame from having a marvellous figure, and goes through absolutely insane and excessive treatments in order to conserve said figure. These three women find success and fame, each in her own field, but quickly find that it’s impossible to keep a sane lifestyle when the demands of stardom are tearing them to shreds. Exhausted, they employ little helpers - illegal pills, which they refer to as “Dolls”. (It’s all coming together now, isn’t it?)
As you can tell, I enjoy books that discuss addictions, and the depiction of it in Valley of the Dolls was just exquisite. This book will have you feeling as if you’re reading page six, and yet this bubbly, cheeky tone managed to perfectly act as a mirror to society. No conclusions are outright said or explained, no resolutions are made. The reader is left to read the subtext of anger, double standard, and mental difficulties - just like we are left to in real life. These characters will immaculately portray what it's like to be a woman in a field so controlled by men, to live under the expectation of beauty. These characters will be unlikeable, corrupt and incredibly selfish at times. These characters are real.
Okay, enough spoiling the book now. I recommend it if you enjoy: sassy actors in their natural habitat, the Hollywood\Broadway scene, criticising every single character, and the 40s-60s.
Overall Marianne rating: 9\10.
Cheers,
Marianne
***This piece has been modified from its original posting on 7/17/2023
