55 pages • 1 hour read
Jacqueline SusannValley of the Dolls
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1966A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Historical Context: Post-World War II/Pre-Women’s Liberation America
The events Susann writes about in Valley of the Dolls occur in a brief, unique, transitional period. The narrative begins in 1945 at the conclusion of World War II. Many servicemen and women returned to the US mainland and were dramatically impacted by the war. As Lyon explains in the novel, the former Lyon died in Europe, and he no longer finds it fulfilling to pursue a driven, legal career.
Things changed in America as well. With a major portion of able-bodied men serving in the military, women had been summoned into the workforce to undergird wartime industry and business. Women undertook responsibilities and learned trades that previously had been exclusively the domain of men. As men returned to workplaces after the war, women lost the income, independence, and opportunities they briefly possessed. This is the cultural milieu at the beginning of the narrative, when three eager young women find themselves in New York, each with an ideal notion of happiness she is determined to pursue.
Almost 20 years after the end of the war, about the time the narrative concludes, another nascent movement emerged: the drive for women’s equality. The start of second-wave feminism is frequently pinpointed to 1963, when American author Betty Friedan published her seminal reflections on the limitations American society places upon women, The Feminine Mystique. The culmination of Jennifer’s, Neely’s, and Anne’s unsatisfying stories aligns with this budding movement, and Friedan illuminated many of the challenges that Susann portrayed in her novel. The main characters’ trials illustrate this turbulent, two-decade period demarcated by the end of World War II and the beginning of the women’s movement.
Critical Context: Literary Responses to and a Presentation of Valley of the Dolls
In the preface to the 50th Anniversary Edition of Valley of the Dolls, it is noted that Time magazine gave the novel its “Dirty Book of the Month” award not long after its publication in 1966. Susann responded to this citation through her essay, “My Book is Not Dirty.” Many reviewers at the time of the book’s release described it as little more than a tawdry, lurid book about sexually immoral entertainers. Criticisms of the book’s supposed lasciviousness likely propelled its sales, making it a New York Times bestseller.
Hollywood responded to the fervor and controversy by swiftly releasing a movie based on the book. An interview with Susann released during filming reveals that the author did not have the final say over the script and was surprised by some of the differences between the book and the film. She stated, “I want to be surprised at the movie theater, like everyone else” (“Jacqueline Susann ‘Valley of the Dolls’ 1966.” YouTube, uploaded by the Bobbie Wygant Archive, 24 July 2020). While the movie retained most of the characters and much of the dialogue, it deviated significantly from Susann’s plot, focusing more on expanding the sensational aspects of the book.
Though reviewers criticized the book for its sexual and moral content, the text includes no explicit descriptions of sexuality. Reviewers’ reactions likely come from the topics that the author discusses, alludes to, or euphemistically describes, such as LGBT relationships, abortion, birth control, and drug-induced experiences, all of which were controversial when the novel was published.
