copyright 1966; Grove Press publishers, New York; softbound in colorful covers; very good condition with unmarked pages.
description -
Valley of the Dolls is the first novel by American writer Jacqueline Susann. Published in 1966, the book was the biggest selling novel of its year. To date, it has sold more than 31 million copies, making it one of the best-selling works in publishing history.
Plot -
The novel tells the story of three young women who become fast friends in the turbulent post-war worlds of Broadway and Hollywood: Anne Welles, a reserved New England beauty who sees New York as the romantic city of her dreams; Neely O'Hara, an ebullient vaudevillian with a talent she doesn't fully understand; and Jennifer North, a sweet-natured showgirl who wants only to be loved. As life becomes difficult, each woman grows increasingly dependent on "dolls", the amphetamines and barbiturates which, for a time, seem to help.
Crossing their paths are such people as Helen Lawson, a brilliant, but ruthless, Broadway legend; Lyon Burke, a magnetic, but self-centered, theatrical attorney; Tony Polar, a child-like, but sexually aggressive, pop singer; Kevin Gillmore, a powerful, but lovesick, cosmetics tycoon; and Ted Casablanca, a potent, but opportunistic, fashion designer.
Over the course of 20 eventful years (1945–1965), each of the women strives to ascend the Mount Everest of her dreams, only to find herself back in the valley of the dolls.