Book Review: Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann



Ebook Cover from Wikipedia

 Valley of the Dolls was written in 1966 by Jacqueline Susann and discussed everything that no one was supposed to talk about. From affairs to abortion to additction and sexism - there's little this book is afraid to say.

Plot Summary - from Wikipedia
In 1945, Anne Welles moves to New York City from Lawrenceville, Massachusetts, and finds employment with a talent agency representing the Broadway musical Hit the Sky. She meets Neely O'Hara (who changed her name from Ethel Agnes O'Neill), a vaudeville star living in her building, and recommends her for a role in the show’s chorus. Jennifer North, a showgirl with limited talent regarded for her beauty, appears in the play as well. The three women become fast friends. Over the next twenty years, the women embark on careers that bring them to the heights of fame, addiction and eventual self-destruction.

While the book is told from the perspectives of all three women (Anne, Neely and Jennifer), the novel begins and ends with Anne tieing up the idea that this is really her story.

Ink Thoughts Review
I found the premise of the story very applicable to current times. We have seen the effects of fame and prescription drug addiction even as recently as the death of singer, Whitney Houston and the struggling comeback of child actress, Lindsey Lohan. I found Susann's account of the whirl-wind lives of 'show business women' to be stunningly tangeable even as they became increasingly juxtaposed with pain and self-destruction. 

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Characters - 8/10
I'm not sure I would classify the characters of Anne, Neely and Jennifer as 'likable' - indeed there was plenty to envy or even despise of each woman by the end of the novel - but... they were real. Among the pages of Susann's meandering plot, these women were living and breathing because she did keep us at a distance as many women in 1966 would have actually felt about three vibrantly attractive and successful ladies who conquered Broadway, Hollywood, Television and international fame. In fact, that added to my feelings of helplessness as a friend would feel watching someone they know and love spiral out of control. No matter how you might shout or beg or try to make someone understand - a person will do what they want. So no matter how I might have pleaded with these women to stop letting themselves be defined by the men in their lives or wish that they could see that taking 60 sleeping pills in one day is not normal - they continued on their path anyway as I'm sure Susann intended. Thankfully, liking the characters does not inhibit them from being compelling because as I finished the last page, even the last line of what was a draining experience to read Valley of the Dolls, I did not like them....but I knew these women and understood them beyond a shadow of doubt.

Plot - 7/10
I love reading the background of books or movies because I love knowing all of the behind the scenes that went into creating the story. Susann based many of the events and people within this book on actual personal experience as well as people she encountered. Somehow that knowlege makes the plot all the more tragic. Overall, I found the story to move along at a steady pace. She masterfully kept our attention wondering and delivered the creshendos with purposeful intent. She was not apologetic about the failures and successes these women experienced - indeed we admittedly understood that everything that happened to them occured because of the choices made by each.

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Writing Style - 6/10
I know many people have issues with the idea of multiple main characters or struggle with differing perspectives - I am not one of them. In fact, I enjoy and write from multiple points of view so I after reading several books from the first person perspective, I found this refreshing. That being said there were a handful of moments when the perspective appeared to change within paragraphs which was awkward and confusing especially if you weren't reading carefully. As well, there were several spelling errors that were distracting but again, I reminded myself that spellcheck was not around in 1966 when this was done solely on a typewriter.

Conclusion
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann is as applicable today as it was in 1966. I am 30 years old but I found the discussion with my mother who read it when she was my age left us with similar impressions and social commentary leading me to wonder how far have we really come? It is easy to read although perhaps not as 'fun' as other romance novels claim to be. Read it with an open mind and I'm sure you will walk away considering how your own choices have reaped the life you have - good, bad and beyond.

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