Valley of the Dolls Valley of the Dolls 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. 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
Jacqueline Susann Sweet Princess", which Susann did not live to write. Josephine died on January 6, 1970, just days before her sixteenth birthday. In 1962, at the age of 44, Susann was diagnosed with breast cancer, and underwent a radical mastectomy. During her recuperation, she made a pact with God: if she were given ten more years of life, she would prove herself to be the best-selling writer in the world. With her diagnosis, Susann felt an urgency to make money as quickly as possible, so as to ensure that her son would be properly cared for the rest of his life.