[ book tip by Hannah Geismar ] Valley of The Dolls is the story of 3 young girls, Anne, Neely and Jennifer, who come to New York with plenty of dreams and aspirations, and the book follows them as they navigate their way through the ups and downs of life while looking for love and success. It's an entertaining story full of sex and glamour, but it's not your typical Sex & The City universe. On the contrary: shows like Sex & The City and Desperate Housewives might never have existed without Valley Of The Dolls.

Jaqueline Susann published Valley Of The Dolls in 1966 and what's truly mindblowing is that not only does her voice ring true 40 years later, her story also proves that things might not have changed as much as we would like to think.

Valley Of The Dolls is the kind of book that comes with a clearly defined before and after. There’s your life before the book and then there's your life after the book. They might not be very different, in fact, your life might stay exactly the same. But Valley Of The Dolls will leave a tiny scar somewhere in your brain, and you'll never forget its sad premise: that once you get what you want, once you reach the top, there's only one way: Down. Down into the valley of the dolls - aka sleeping pills that help you cope with life when there's nothing left to believe in.

There are books that leave you with the feeling that everything is fresh and new. Valley Of The Dolls leaves you feeling jaded. And one of the reasons you should read it is in order to rebel against it. The most important reaction anyone can have to this book is a defiant NO! No, I refuse to accept this vision of the world.

But while you go ahead, trying to prove the book wrong, there will always be that nasty, nagging thought: 'What if the Jacqueline Susann was RIGHT?' Which is the proof that once you've entered its universe, Valley Of The Dolls will stay with you, whether you want it or not.

Available in French as La Vallée Des Poupées, LGF - Livre de Poche, 1994

[ book info ] Susann, Jacqueline: Valley Of The Dolls. Virago Press, 2004 .