Valley of the Dolls

Content Warning: The novel contains antigay bias, body shaming, drug abuse, suicidal ideation, and death by suicide.

The author begins with a poem comparing the career struggles of the three protagonists to climbing Mount Everest, a metaphor expressed initially by Henry. Susann notes that, at the very summit of success, the three descend into what she calls the “valley of the dolls,” a reference to their dependence on narcotics.

Anne arrives in New York and goes to an employment agency. There the remark is made that she is so beautiful she should have no trouble getting a job, since so many good secretaries are still working war-related jobs. The agency sends her to Bellamy and Bellows, a law firm that represents well-known entertainers.

Anne reflects on how eager she is to get away from Lawrenceville, Massachusetts, where she grew up. She wants to experience the broader, more exciting world and see if what she was taught as a girl is true. When she once told her mother she didn’t like kissing boys, her mother replied, “You’re a lady, Anne. That’s why you don’t like kissing. No lady does” (5). Now, she is dating an insurance salesman named Allen Cooper, who is a perfect gentleman but a terrible salesman.