Jacqueline Susann of her own books. "Valley of the Dolls" spans twenty years (1945–1965) in the lives of three young women: Anne Welles, the New England beauty who liberates herself from her staid small town by coming to New York, where she falls in love with the dashing Lyon Burke; Neely O'Hara, an ebullient vaudevillian who becomes a Hollywood star and self-destructs; and Jennifer North, a showgirl with little talent but a gorgeous face and figure, who becomes a friend to both. All three women fall prey to the "dolls," amphetamines and barbiturates, a euphemism which Susann coined. The book was published
Dolores (Susann novel) author's mother, Rose Susann (1892-1981). As always with Jacqueline Susann's novels, the critics were harsh. A reviewer for "The New York Times" wrote, "The novel is a fanzine version of clippings and rumors... The writing is sluggish and the plot limp." The reading public nonetheless embraced the book: the hardcover spent 25 weeks on the "New York Times" best seller list, peaking at #2 for seven consecutive weeks, and becoming the third highest-selling novel of 1976, behind just Leon Uris's "Trinity" and Agatha Christie's final book, "Sleeping Murder". The 1978 Bantam edition reached #1 on the "Times" paperback list. Dolores